Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Japan)

On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. This was the first use of a nuclear weapon in the field. Three days later, on August 9, 1945, another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, pushing Japan to surrender on August 15, 1945 and ending the war in the Pacific. Both cities were devastated and the combined death toll in the immediate aftermath of the blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki exceeded 100,000, with many more deaths recorded in subsequent months.