Pilot Paul Tibbets demolished the ‘Little Boy’ bomb on Hiroshima, the city of Japan at 8:15 am on 6 August, 1945.Image Credit Source: Getty Images
Hiroshima Day 2025: Hiroshima Day is celebrated on August 6 every year, reminiscent of one of the most horrific events in human history. In the year 1945, the US dropped a atomic bomb named Little Boy on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. This bomb not only destroyed a city, but also made the whole world aware of the dangers of nuclear weapons. America did not get satisfaction here, he also caused a lot of damage to humanity by dropping a bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, ie on August 9.
Let us know the full story of Little Boy Bomb on the pretext of Hiroshima Dey, why was Hiroshima chosen? How powerful it was? What was its effect and what are its results till date?
People saw a ship in the morning
The city of Hiroshima was taking Angadai in the morning like daily, when a big aircraft appeared in the sky. The Japanese army also saw but Japan, who was having havoc with the world war, did not have enough petrol that its aircraft could move forward to stop this unknown aircraft. By the time people thought and understand something, the bomb dropped from the sky towards the ground and took almost the entire city in its arms. Only and only screams were heard all around.
Little Boy: The more innocent, the more frightening
The Little Boy name seems innocent to hear, but it was the most devastating weapon in history. The bomb was named Little Boy because its size was relatively short and tall, and it was different from another bomb called Fat Man, which was dropped on Nagasaki. The bomb’s designer Johnson and his comrades named it Little Boy to be used as a code name.
Little Boy was prepared under the American Manhattan project. The project began during World War II, in which scientists from America, Britain and Canada together worked to make atomic bombs. The project was led by American scientist Robert Openheimmer. Uranium-235 was used in the construction of the bomb, which was separated with extreme purity. The weight of the bomb was about four tons and its length was about 10 feet.
Bomb strength and destruction
The strength of the Little Boy Bomb can be gauged from the fact that it had about 64 kg of uranium-235, out of which only 0.7 grams of uranium was fragmented, but it released so much energy that the entire city was destroyed. It becomes easy to guess that if the whole uranium was fragmented, how frightening the scene would have been?
The power of the bomb was equal to about 15 kg of TNT. When it was dropped on Hiroshima, in 43 seconds it exploded only six hundred meters above the ground. About 70 thousand people died immediately after the explosion and the death toll reached 1.5 lakh in the next few months.
Atomic bomb Little Boy, about 70 thousand people died soon after the explosion. Photo: Getty Images
Why was Hiroshima chosen?
The US had given many reasons behind targeting Hiroshima. The biggest reason was that Hiroshima was a major military center, where the Japanese army cantonment, warehouses and communication centers. Apart from this, there was no warfare camp in the city, which made the US Army felt that the bombing of Japan would get a major setback to the military power of Japan. Also, Hiroshima’s geographical shape was such that the effect of the bomb could be maximum.
Bomb drop
On the morning of 6 August 1945, American B-29 bomber aircraft Enla Gay flew over Hiroshima. Pilot Paul Tibbets demolished the Little Boy Bomb at 8:15 am. 43 seconds after the bomb fell, there was a terrible explosion in the city. The temperature in the center of the explosion reached more than four thousand degrees Celsius. The waves of the blast completely destroyed the area of 13 square kilometers. Thousands of people immediately died, many people were killed later due to radiation.
Impact of bomb and today’s situation
The impact of the Little Boy Bomb was not limited to immediate deaths. Thousands of people suffered from cancer, leukemia and other diseases due to radiation after the explosion. Congenital distortions were seen in children for many generations. Even today, Hibakusha (atomic bomb victims) are alive in Hiroshima, who testify to that tragedy.
Hiroshima stood up again
Today Hiroshima is again standing taunted. This city has made itself a symbol of peace. There are places like Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Atomic Bomb Dome, which warns the world against peace and nuclear weapons. Every year on August 6, there is a peace prayer meeting, which includes people from all over the world. In the last 80 years, the manner in which Hiroshima has raised himself, the world is being inspired by the world.
Little Boy forced the world to think
The Little Boy Bomb not only destroyed Hiroshima, but forced the whole humanity to think how devastated the misuse of science can be. Hiroshima Dey reminds us that war and violence can never solve a permanent solution. Even today many countries of the world have nuclear weapons, but Hiroshima’s tragedy warns us that peace and humanity are the greatest religion.
This call of peace arising out of the ashes of Hiroshima is as relevant today as it was in 1945. Together we have to take a pledge that such a tragedy should never happen again, this is the real message of Hiroshima Dey.
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