U.S. Air Force photograph
On August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Two-thirds of the city’s area was destroyed, and by the end of the year about 140,000 had died. Three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 70,000. Japan announced its surrender on August 15, ending World War II. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings have been the only uses of nuclear weapons in warfare to date.