• In May 1945, during the final months of World War II, Germany had surrendered to the Allies but Japan refused. 
• President Harry Truman wanted to finish the war quickly. His government decided to drop the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
• On August 6, the atomic bomb “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima, instantly leveling five square miles and killing an estimated 80,000 people. 

On August 6, 1945, a 10-foot-long uranium bomb that weighed 9,788 pounds called “Little Boy” was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. 

The explosion wiped out five square miles of the city, including 62,000 buildings. Up to 80,000 people were killed instantly. The explosion was so powerful people were vaporized leaving nothing behind except for their “nuclear shadow.”

It has gone down as one of the deadliest days in Japanese history. There has also been renewed debate around whether the attacks were necessary to end the war.

Director Christopher Nolan’s film “Oppenheimer,” which was released in July, is about the work that went on to build an atomic bomb in the years leading up to Hiroshima. 

Here’s how the bomb drop played out and why it wasn’t enough to end the war by itself.

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