“The primary cause of death in Hiroshima that day was fire,” says Rhodes. Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images All told, at least 100,000 people died from the explosion and resulting firestorm that leveled a four-square-mile section of Hiroshima.Īll told, at least 100,000 people died from the explosion and resulting firestorm that leveled a four-square-mile section of Hiroshima. Some were vaporized by the initial blast others were charred beyond recognition by the incredible heat. Thousands of Japanese died immediately following the detonation of Little Boy, the nickname of that first atomic bomb. Then there was a flush of neutrons from the fireball that followed, and that was the primary killing mechanism.”

“It was like a gigantic sunburn over the entire area. “There was a 10,000-degree flash of intense light,” says historian Richard Rhodes, who received the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for his book The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Seventy-five years ago, on August 6, 1945, the world entered the nuclear age with the detonation of the first atomic bomb in warfare over Hiroshima, Japan. The next, a brilliant flash of light blinded everyone and altered the course of history.

One moment, it was a warm summer’s day with a few clouds in the sky.