Nagasaki was hit by the second atomic bomb used in World War II.
The United States dropped the plutonium implosion bomb called Fat Man over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The original target was Kokura, but cloud cover and smoke prevented clear visual identification, so the bomber proceeded to its secondary target, Nagasaki.
Fat Man detonated at approximately 11:02 a.m. local time. Nagasaki’s hills and valleys affected the spread of the blast, but the bombing still devastated industrial and residential areas and caused tens of thousands of deaths.
The attack followed the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6. On the same day as the Nagasaki bombing, the Soviet Union launched its invasion of Japanese-held Manchuria. These developments intensified pressure on Japan’s leaders, who soon moved toward accepting the Potsdam Declaration.