The atomic bomb was used in war on just two occasions. The bombs were used on both occasions by the United States in 1945 against Japan towards the end of World War II. By the time the bombs were used the war in Europe was over. Germany had surrendered on May 8th 1945. However the Japanese had refused the call to surrender by the Allies and China.
Development of the atomic bomb was carried out under the Manhattan Project under the direction the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The director of the Los Alamos Project in New Mexico that designed the bomb was J. Robert Oppenheimer. The first nuclear device was successfully detonated in New Mexico on July 16th 1945. The Manhattan Project then produced the atomic weapons which were subsequently used to bomb, first Hiroshima and then Nagasaki a few days later.
The atomic bombs were transported to the Island of Tinian, one of Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean south of Japan. The first atomic bomb called ‘Little Boy’, was dropped over the centre Hiroshima. It led to the deaths of an estimated 70,000 people and destroyed 13 square kilometres of the city. During the following months many more people died of radiation sickness. A second atomic bomb was dropped three days after the first. Called ‘Fat Man’, it was dropped on the city of Nagasaki and eventually led to the deaths of an estimated 80,000 people. The destruction caused by the bombs together with the Soviet Union declaration of war on Japan led to Japan announcing its surrender on August 15th 1945.
The USA bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima causing widespread death and destruction in the year 1945 On This Day.
Photo by Maarten1979 
Hiroshima-after-the-bomb by Maarten1979 on 2009-09-10 15:10:53
Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Bockscar” by ksr8s on 2010-10-19 14:30:29