This Day in History--August 6

In the summer of 1945, World War II was finished in Europe, with Germany surrendering, but Japan vowed to fight to the death. President Harry Truman decided to drop an atomic bomb--with the equivalent of 20,000 tons of dynamite--on the city of Hiroshima, a major port and military center, hoping to convince Japan to accept an unconditional surrender.

At 8:16am, a bomb named "Little Boy" hit Hiroshima just as the work day was beginning. Some 80,000 to 100,000 people were obliterated on impact. Another 100,000 were injured. A year later, 60,000 more people were dead. The majority of those dead were woman, children and the elderly.

People more than five miles away said the blast was ten times as bright as the sun. It shattered windows ten miles away and was felt almost 40 miles away.

Here is an eyewitness account:

Ms. Akiko Takakura was 20 years old when the bomb fell. She was in the Bank of Hiroshima, 300 meters away from the hypocenter. Ms. Takakura miraculously escaped death despite over 100 lacerated wounds on her back. She is one of the few survivors who was within 300 meters of the hypocenter. She now runs a kindergarten and she relates her experience of the atomic bombing to children.

Many people on the street were killed almost instantly. The fingertips of those dead bodies caught fire and the fire gradually spread over their entire bodies from their fingers. A light gray liquid dripped down their hands, scorching their fingers. I, I was so shocked to know that fingers and bodies could be burned and deformed like that. I just couldn't believe it. It was horrible. And looking at it, it was more than painful for me to think how the fingers were burned, hands and fingers that would hold babies or turn pages, they just, they just burned away. For a few years after the A-bomb was dropped, I was terribly afraid of fire. I wasn't even able to get close to fire because all my senses remembered how fearful and horrible the fire was, how hot the blaze was, and how hard it was to breathe the hot air. It was really hard to breathe. Maybe because the fire burned all the oxygen, I don't know. I could not open my eyes enough because of the smoke, which was everywhere. Not only me but everyone felt the same. And my parts were covered with holes.

Three days later, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Japan subsequently surrendered.

In Hiroshim, on August 6, there's a ceremony in Peace Memorial Park. The mayor reads his annual Peace Declaration.