The Dropping of the Atomic Bomb

Locations and Dates

• Hiroshima, Japan (Little Boy) August 6, 1945• Nagasaki, Japan (Fat Man) August 9, 1945

“Little Boy” “Fat Man”

Beginning of Development

• The beginning of the project was Albert Einstein’s 1939 letter to FDR in which he suggested that an atomic bomb could be built.

Manhattan Project

• Major General Leslie Groves named head of operations.

http://www.history.com/topics/bombing-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/videos#manhattan-project

• At height of construction, the project employed 129,000 people.

Potsdam Declaration

• Outlined terms of surrender for Japan from the U.S.

• Told Japan without surrender there would be, “Complete destruction of Japanese armed forces as well as inevitable devastation of the Japanese homeland.”

Decision Makers

• U.S. President Henry S. Truman• United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Winston

Churchill • Soviet Union’s Premier Joseph Stalin

Churchill,Truman,Stalin

Casualties

• Hiroshima- 70,000 casualties from initial bombing. Up to 200,000 casualties by the end of 1945 due to radiation.

• Nagasaki- 75,000 casualties from initial bombing. Up to 80,000 total by the end of 1945 due to radiation.

Radio Broadcast from President Truman

• After the dropping of “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, President Truman had this to say to the American public…Radio Broadcast