World War II was in full swing. The Allies were winning. Germany and Italy were defeated but Japan was still fighting. When even after repeated warnings, Japan refused to surrender, American President Harry S Truman ordered the world’s first atomic bomb to be used in the war. So, at 8:15 am on August 6 1945, American B-29 bomber, the “Enola Gay” dropped the world’s first atom bomb over the city of Hiroshima. The bomb, nicknamed “The Little Boy”, instantly killed 80,000 people, while 35,000 died later due to burns, other injuries and radiation sickness.

Three days later, when Japan refused to surrender, another bomb nicknamed “Fat Man” was dropped over another city Nagasaki.

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The bombing had the desired effect. Japan surrendered on 15 August, 1945. The war was over but the world saw the utter and highest level of destruction. Many eyewitnesses who later came forward reported that in one instant the entire city was destroyed. There were horrifying narrations of the life after by the survivors.

Ninety per cent of Hiroshima was destroyed and had to be built again. The entire city was rebuilt, but a small part was left as it is — as a reminder of the destruction that the city had seen. Every year on Hiroshima Day, the city holds the Peace Memorial Ceremony, to console the victims of the atomic bomb and to pray for lasting world peace. This ceremony was started in 1947, by the then Hiroshima Mayor Shinzo Hamai.

According to the United Nations Office For Disarmament Affairs, “A number of multilateral treaties have since been established with the aim of preventing nuclear proliferation and testing, while promoting progress in nuclear disarmament. These include the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests In The Atmosphere, In Outer Space And Under Water, also known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which was signed in 1996 but has yet to enter into force, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), opened for signature in 2017 but has yet to enter into force.”