Hiroshima was the first Japanese city attacked with an atomic bomb in 1945.
The United States dropped the uranium gun-type bomb Little Boy over Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. The bomb detonated at approximately 8:15 a.m. local time, destroying much of the city and causing enormous loss of life.
Hiroshima was a military and industrial center, and the city’s geography increased the destructive effects of the blast. The attack was followed three days later by the bombing of Nagasaki with the plutonium implosion device Fat Man. Nagasaki was therefore the second city attacked with an atomic bomb.
The bombings occurred during a wider crisis for Japan. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan on 8 August and invaded Japanese-held territory in Manchuria shortly afterward. Japan announced its acceptance of the Allied surrender terms on 15 August, although the legal and ceremonial surrender was completed later, on 2 September 1945.