A Little History
“Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima and destroyed its usefulness to the enemy. That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British “Grand Slam” which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare” (Truman 1945).
- Minutes after the bomb was dropped, a mushroom cloud of enormous proportions rose above the city. Temperatures rose to 600 C; bodies were reduced to ashes, the ground was charred, and survivors were left contemplating the scale of disaster.
- Three days later, the same happened in Nagasaki
- Over the next several weeks, and even years, effects of extreme radiation caused much more illness and death. Estimates suggest that about one fourth of Hiroshima’s population was killed, and even more injured. The total death toll comes to over 115,000, with about 140,000 injured
Source: Singh, R.S. (2001, Aug 11). The Lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Spectator.