On the 6th of August, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima from the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay.

The Potsdam Declaration issued on the 28th of July by the Allies had called for the unconditional surrender of Japan.

If the government did not surrender, they were threatened with "the complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and... utter devastation of the Japanese homeland".

Having completed the successful Trinity atomic test on the 16th of July, the USA felt that the atomic bomb could quickly end the War in the Pacific.

Hiroshima was chosen as a target due to its industrial and military significance.

The city was the command center for the defense of southern Japan and contained approximately 40,000 military personnel,

while even conservative estimates state that more than 200,000 civilians also lived there.

Enola Gay and six accompanying aircraft had a 6-hour flight from the air base at North Field before reaching the city where they released the bomb at 8.15 a.m.

It exploded 1,900 feet above the city as planned, with the equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT.

Virtually all buildings within a mile of the blast were flattened.

70,000 people were killed instantly as a result of the explosion, of whom 20,000 were military personnel.

Approximately another 70,000 died over the following months due to radiation sickness, burns, and other injuries directly related to the explosion.

Following the bombing of Hiroshima, President Truman warned that, if Japan did not surrender,

they may "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth".

Japan did not surrender, and a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki three days later.