Hiroshima was the Japanese city struck by the first atomic bomb used in war in 1945, shortly before Japan’s surrender.
The United States dropped the uranium bomb Little Boy on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The B-29 Enola Gay released it at about 8:15 a.m. local time. Hiroshima had been selected as a major military and industrial center, and relatively little damage from earlier bombing made the effects easier to assess.
The explosion destroyed much of the city and caused enormous loss of life. Estimates of deaths by the end of 1945 vary, with many historical studies placing the total around 140,000, including people who later died from injuries and radiation exposure.
Nagasaki was not the first target. It was struck three days later, on August 9, by a different bomb. Kokura was the primary target for that mission, but cloud cover caused the aircraft to proceed to Nagasaki. The two bombings, together with the Soviet declaration of war, preceded Japan’s announcement of surrender on August 15.