Hiroshima was hit by the atomic bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” on August 6, 1945.
The bomb was carried by the B-29 bomber Enola Gay and detonated over Hiroshima at about 8:15 a.m. local time. Little Boy used uranium-235 and was the first nuclear weapon used in warfare.
The bombing destroyed large parts of the city and caused massive civilian casualties. Many more people later died from injuries, burns, radiation exposure, and related effects. The exact death toll remains difficult to establish because wartime records were incomplete.
Hiroshima is sometimes confused with Nagasaki, which was bombed three days later by the plutonium weapon Fat Man. The two attacks, together with the Soviet entry into the war against Japan, intensified the crisis that led to Japan’s surrender announcement.