*Newspaper on the attack of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. this attack not only took the US by surprise, but triggered the United States to abandon the policy of "isolationism" and enter World War II.
*Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, head of the Manhattan Project. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
*This shows the "Little Boy" weapon in the pit ready for loading into the bomb bay of Enola Gay. (Photo from U.S. National Archives, RG 77-BT)
*These are pictures of Hiroshima before and after the bombing. As shown, the bomb greatly affected this city.
*Pictured is ground zero in Nagasaki before and after the bombing. Though the city had good bomb shelters, many Japanese had become blasé about air raids and ignored the warning sirens on August 9.
*The aftermath of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, by the Americans at the end of World War II. The occupants of the burned-out bus were all killed
*Japan surrenders to the Allies:On August 14, 1945, the Japanese news agency Domei announced that the war was over. A crowd gathered before Emperor Hirohito's palace. America celebrated the ending of a war that devastated the world.
*V-J Day celebration: On August 15, more than two million people crowded into New York's Times Square anxiously awaiting word that the war with Japan was over. The New York Times agreed to keep its revolving news sign active until an announcement was made. Finally, at 7:03 p.m. Eastern Time, a message flashed across the Times sign stating, "Official -- Truman Announces Japanese Surrender." The energy of the revelers exploded in a whirl of hysteria. Strangers hugged and kissed each other. This is a picture of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square.
Atomic Bomb Ends WWII
Stalin knew that the U.S. was developing a nuclear weapon, but only after two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan did the Soviet leader understand how power the weapon was. Truman believed the atomic bomb would help the U.S. control Russia's actions. The atomic bomb led to the surrender of the Japanese and the ending of the war.
The first atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Stalin invades Japan. Hiroshima was the primary target of the first nuclear bombing mission on 6 August, with Kokura and Nagasaki as alternative targets.
Although the war in Europe is over, fighting in the Pacific continues. Prisoners are forced to work in dangerous mines under brutal conditions. In 1945, America drops an atomic bomb on Japan, which causes them to surrender. This saves a numerous amount of American lives, as well as some Japanese too.
After the United States dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagaski Japan, Japan surrenders. This ends the war in the Pacific.