History

The making of the atomic bombs that were intended to be dropped on Japan was called the Manhattan Project. This project consisted of about 600,000 people to create this bomb. This project was kept a huge secret in the war because there was only a limited few who knew what was going on. Leo Szilard in 1939 was the first scientist that thought that splitting the atom would lead to a huge release of energy. This was brought to Roosevelt’s attention and he put together a committee to further research this topic. The lead physicist in this project was J. Robert Oppenheimer. Also the person in charge of the entire Manhattan Project was chief General Groves. The first time they tested this bomb was during the trinity test in September of 1945 in Los Alamos, New Mexico. During the making of the atomic bomb F.D. Roosevelt passed away in April of 1945 and left Truman in office. Truman was unaware that the government was involved in a Manhattan Project. Truman decided to carry out Roosevelt’s plans and drop the two bombs. The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. This bomb was known as “little boy”. Hiroshima was a military base and most that were killed were considered military casualties. The airplane that dropped this bomb was a B-29 bomber named the Enola Gay. It was named after the pilot’s mother. This bomb took 43 seconds to explode and destroy the city. An average 80,000 to 120,000 civilians died during this bombing and thousands died after from radiation sicknesses and burns..  The United States asked for unconditional surrender by the Japanese. The second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. This bomb was names “fat man”. Nagasaki was a full civilian city and had never been bombed during the war.  This bomb destroyed half the city. There was an estimated 35,000 to 74,000 people killed.

This picture is of the atomic bomb "little boy" that was dropped of Hiroshima.

This is a picture of "fat man" that was dropped on Nagasaki.


 Please click below to find aditional pictures of the bombs and the planes they were carried in
The Enola Gay being loaded
The Enola Gay having the "little boy" loaded in