1945年8月，美国对日本实施了两次原子弹轰炸。[1]美国在8月6日向广岛投放原子弹"小男孩"，造成数万人死亡。[1]三天后的8月9日，美国又在长崎投放原子弹"胖子"，造成约7万人死亡。[1]这两次轰炸加速了日本投降和第二次世界大战的结束，但同时引发了全球范围内的核武军备竞赛和持久的核战争恐惧，标志着核时代的开启。[1]
美国总统杜鲁门将此举形容为"有组织科学历史上最伟大的成就"。[1]原子弹的问世随之引发了一连串国家核武装竞赛。[1]苏联在1949年成功爆炸了自己的原子弹，之后英国、法国、中国、印度、巴基斯坦和朝鲜也相继拥有核武器。[1]长崎的幸存者谷口清司时年16岁，在距爆炸中心1英里处被冲击波从自行车上抛出，他后来于2017年去世。[1]
The United States dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities in August 1945, fundamentally transforming global politics and ushering in the nuclear age. On August 6, the bomb codenamed "Little Boy" devastated Hiroshima, killing tens of thousands [1]. Three days later, on August 9, a second bomb called "Fat Man" was unleashed on Nagasaki, claiming approximately 70,000 lives [1]. These attacks accelerated Japan's surrender and concluded World War II, but they also triggered decades of nuclear proliferation and widespread fear of atomic warfare worldwide [1].
The bombings set off a global arms race as rival powers pursued nuclear capabilities. The Soviet Union tested its own atomic bomb in 1949, followed by Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea, each developing nuclear weapons in succession [1]. President Truman declared the atomic bomb "the greatest achievement in the history of organized science" [1], framing the weapon through a lens of scientific accomplishment despite its devastating human toll.
Among the countless victims was Kiyoshi Taniguchi, who was 16 years old when the Nagasaki blast struck. Located approximately one mile from the explosion's epicenter, he was thrown from his bicycle by the force of the blast [1]. Taniguchi survived the initial devastation but carried the weight of that day until his death in 2017 [1].