The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, during the final stage of the war with Japan.
The bomb, named Fat Man, was carried by the B-29 bomber Bockscar and detonated over Nagasaki at about 11:02 a.m. local time. The weapon used plutonium and caused enormous destruction and loss of life.
Nagasaki was the second Japanese city hit by an atomic bomb. Hiroshima had been bombed three days earlier, on August 6, with the uranium weapon Little Boy. The Soviet Union also declared war on Japan on August 8, adding another shock to Japanese decision-makers.
The relationship between these events and Japan’s surrender remains a subject of historical debate. Japan announced acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration on August 15, and its formal surrender was signed on September 2.