In 1938, Hahan and Strassman's theory of fission influenced the Germans to commence development of the first nuclear bomb. With this news, however, Americans decided to develop nuclear weapons of their own and a race for the first atomic bomb ensued. Under the code name, Manhattan Project, the program to produce the atomic bomb began under the Army Corps of Engineers, under the direction of General Leslie R. Groves. America knew that it had to produce the atomic bomb before Japan or Germany; otherwise, it could have cost them the entire war. Thus, until 1945, did the race for an atomic bomb last. The bomb was to be built in Los Alamos, under the direction of Robert Oppenheimer. Although Germany was leading the race during 1939, a foggy, unclear goal, major errors, and lackluster leadership made them fall behind the Americans. When the atomic bomb was tested in New Mexico on July 1945, brigadier general Thomas Farrow told Groves, "The war is over." Later in that year, the Little Boy and Fat Man bombs were ready for use against Japan (because Germany had already surrendered at the time) in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
            At this time, in the middle of 1945, America just had to defeat Japan to win the war. It was possible to simply send in an invasion of military troops, costing thousands upon thousands of American lives. So, it was decided to use the secret atomic bombs developed in the Manhattan Project as a means of ending the war quickly and effectively. On August 6, 1945, 8:15 AM, by permission of President Truman, three B-29 bomber planes, the Enola Gay and two escort planes, dropped the Little Boy atomic bomb on Aioi Bridge in Hiroshima. In a split-second, an intense, searing mix of blast, heat and radiation spread around the blast-center for about 2 miles outward. After the explosion, Japanese officials still refused to surrender, for they thought America didn't have possession of any other atomic bombs. In reply, three days later, America dropped the other atomic bomb, Fat Man, on Nagasaki. Although missing its target by a mile and half, Fat Man still managed to rack up some devastating casualties. Overwhelming amounts of people perished because of the attacks, not just on the first day, but for many months or even years to come.
           Of course, the dropping of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought with it absolutely appalling effects and damage. Around 80,000 people perished instantly from the Hiroshima attacks with 66,000 people injured and around 53,000 people diminished from the Nagasaki attacks with around 58, 000 injuries. However, these are solely estimates because in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, population reports were destroyed. The blasts, which were made up of around 50% of the actual blast, 35% of heat and 15% radiation, had an effect for 2.5 miles around its blast-center. For 1.5 miles around the blast-centers everything, I mean absolutely everything, vaporized and got completely destroyed; severe blast damage was prevalent in the 2 mile radius and everything that was flammable burned in the 2.5 mile radius. Japanese people that didn't instantly die were subject to intense rates of heat and hazardous radiation. The heat burned many people alive and radiation created various diseases and cancers like leukemia. Because of the rapid spread of leukemia and other such diseases, people today are still being affected by the atomic bomb dropped nearly 60 years ago. Also, the atomic bomb created a massive shockwave that absolutely pulverized buildings and such, leaving Hiroshima and Nagasaki and complete ruins. The power of the atomic bomb in these two Japanese cities had profound effects upon the outcome of World War II and the use of massively destructive weapons in the future
              Of course, the death tolls for the atomic bombs were catastrophic. The number of specific casualties, however, differ substantially between Japan's counts and America's counts. According to American data, the atomic bombs in Hiroshima claimed approximately 79,000 lives with 66,000 injuries and the bombs in Nagasaki claimed 53,000 people with 58,000 injuries. On the other side, Japan counts up around 113,000 deaths and 93,000 injuries with the Hiroshima attacks and 79,000 deaths and 83,000 injuries in Nagasaki. Even if you look at the smaller amount of data, it would take around 35 9/11 attacks to match the combined casualties in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
            With the overwhelming amount of deaths the atomic bombs claimed, Japan knew that it couldn't possibly win the war with America's imposing and imminent atomic threat. As a result, Japan agreed to unconditional terms of surrendering on August 14th aboard the USS Missouri, outside Tokyo Bay, with Truman announcing the war's demise on August 15th. On August 14th, known as VJ Day, celebration erupted in Allied cities and capitals. Eventually, on September 2nd, Japan signed the formal surrender document. The atomic bomb left much of Japan in a pile of smoking ruins, forcing Japan to rebuild its country from scratch. In addition, the country had to deal with thousands upon thousands of people diagnosed with diseases caused by the radiation, like leukemia. Even today, people are diagnosed with diseases caused by the atomic bomb 60 years ago. Most importantly, though, the devastating deaths demonstrated in Hiroshima and Nagasaki made sure no weapon of that sheer potential for destruction would be unleashed ever again.