09 August-Atomic Bomb Nagasaki

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‘Fat Man’ was the name given to the atomic bomb which was exploded 500m above the city of Nagasaki, Japan in August 1945. The bombing of Nagasaki caused widespread death and destruction. The bomb containing a core of plutonium was only the second of two nuclear bombs ever used.

The bombing of Nagasaki took place three days after the city of Hiroshima was destroyed by a nuclear bomb. The two bombs were used by the United States 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.

The first atomic bomb called ‘Little Boy’, was dropped over the centre Hiroshima on August 6^th 1945. It led to the deaths of an estimated 70,000 people and destroyed 13 square kilometres of the city. Three days later the city of Nagasaki was the target of the second nuclear bomb. Called ‘Fat Man’, it caused widespread destruction and led to an estimated 40,000 people being killed outright. During the following months and years many more people died of radiation sickness.

A nuclear bomb, with the codename ‘Fat Man’, caused widespread death and destruction in the city of Nagasaki in the year 1945 On This Day.

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Nagasaki bomb 9 August 1945 by The Official CTBTO Photostream on 2008-12-21 16:31:09

06 August-Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima

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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.

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Hiroshima-after-the-bomb by Maarten1979 on 2009-09-10 15:10:53

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Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Bockscar” by ksr8s on 2010-10-19 14:30:29

21 February-Eric Liddell

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Eric Liddell was an athlete who competed for Great Britain in the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924. The award winning film ‘Chariots of Fire’ tells the story of Liddell and another British athlete Harold Abrahams. They both won Gold Medals at the games. Chariots of Fire was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1982 and won four.

Eric Liddell was born in Tientsin, China on January 16^th 1902. His parents were Scottish who were working as missionaries in China. Liddell was an outstanding athlete who was educated at the University of Edinburgh. He competed successfully in sprint races and played on the wing for the Scotland national rugby union team in the 1922 and 1923 Five Nations Championships.

In the 1924 Olympic Games Liddell was listed to compete in the 100m. A heat for the race was to be held on Sunday. Because of his Christian convictions Liddell would not compete on the Sabbath. Liddell later competed in the 400m race and won gold. In 1925 Liddell returned to China to work as a missionary.

Eric Liddell, Olympic Gold Medal winner, rugby player, and missionary whose story was told in the film Chariots of Fire died aged 43 in an internment camp in China in the year 1945 On This Day.

http://lewishamlegacy.wdfiles.com/local–files/eric-liddell/EricLiddell

17 August-Animal Farm

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Animal Farm is an award winning novella written by George Orwell. It is regarded as the most famous political allegory of the 20^th century. It describes how a group of farm animals revolt against the tyranny of their human master. The animals are then subjected a far greater tyranny by their own kind.

In Animal Farm, Orwell reflects the rise to power of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. The Communist Party seized power from Tsar Nicolas II following the Russian Revolution of 1917. The dictatorship of the Tsar was eventually replaced by the even more brutal dictatorship of Stalin.

Animal Farm by George Orwell was first published in the year 1945 On This Day.

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George Orwell, c. 1940

19 June-Aung San Suu Kyi

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Aung San Suu Kyi is State Counsellor (de facto Prime Minister) of Myanmar. She is the leader of the National League for Democracy which won a landslide victory in the Myanmar General Election of 2015. She has served in the role of State Counsellor since April 6th 2016. Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She was under house arrest at the time.

Aung San Suu Kyi was born in Rangoon, Burma in 1945. Rangoon is now Yangon. Her father, Aung San, who brought about Burma’s independence from British rule, is regarded as the Father of the Nation of Myanmar. He was assassinated during the transition period, six months before independence. At the time Aung San Suu Kyi was two years old.

Suu Kyi’s mother was appointed ambassador to Delhi in 1960. Suu Kyi was educated there and later studied at Oxford University in England. She graduated from Oxford in 1967 and lived and worked in the United States, Japan and Bhutan before settling in the England. In 1988 she returned to Burma to care for her mother who was critically ill.

When Suu Kyi returned to her homeland there was major political upheaval in the country. Myanmar had been ruled by a military junta since 1962. She was one of the founders of the National League for Democracy. The aim was to establish a democracy and bring about the integration of the various ethnic groups. She led a programme of non-violent opposition to the military junta.

Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest in 1989. Her party won the 1990 election but the military refused to allow parliament to convene. She spent most of the following 21 years under house arrest. Suu Kyi was finally released in November 2010. Since then Myanmar has undergone a rapid programme of democratisation, culminating in the election of Suu Kyi as State Counsellor in 2016.

However since her election she has failed to bring about the integration of the various ethnic groups in Burma. There has been international criticism of her failure to stop the persecution of the Rohingya people in the west of Myanmar and the Kachin people in the east.

Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of Myanmar, was born in the year 1945 On This Day.

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Aung San Suu Kyi i Oslo Rådhus

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Aung San Suu Kyi – Visits Dublin