The Advent of Atomic Weaponry: Hiroshima and Nagasaki

A Day That Shook the World, a short British Pathé film from 1945, briefly describes the dropping of "Little Boy," the first atom bomb to be used as a weapon, on the city of Hiroshima at 8:15am on August 6, 1945 (Japan time). It was quickly followed by the dropping of "Fat Man" on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Both caused unprecedented death and destruction.

A previous Common Curator post, The Legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, discusses, among other matters, Tsutomu Yamaguchi [1916-2010], who at the time of his death was the only nijyuu hibakusha, or "twice-bombed person," officially recognized by the Japanese government. Other resources of interest are Democracy Now's interview with Japanese Nobel Laureate Kenzaburo Oe and the National Archives' photographs and sound recordings documenting the Hiroshima bombing.