65 Years Ago Today...

[alphacat]

...Mankind became "A Destroyer of Worlds."

Aug. 6, 1945: ‘I Am Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds’

1945: The United States becomes the first (and remains the only) country ever to use an atomic weapon in warfare, obliterating the Japanese city of Hiroshima and instantly killing 70,000 people. (Many thousands more would die later from the effects of radiation poisoning.) Three days later, the port city of Nagasaki is destroyed by a second atom bomb with the ultimate loss of 140,000 lives. Japan surrenders shortly thereafter, ending World War II.



Several countries, including Hitler's Germany, had pursued the development of an atomic weapon but none matched the U.S. Manhattan Project in terms of the resources, energy or scientific manpower devoted to making the bomb a reality.

The atomic age dawned with the discovery of fission in a Berlin laboratory in 1938, news that alarmed many émigré scientists who had come to the United States to escape Nazism. Fearing that Germany might be first to actually develop this ultimate weapon, they appealed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to make nuclear research a high priority. After some initial skepticism, FDR was persuaded and a joint civilian-military committee was formed, which led to the establishment of the Manhattan Project.

Development of the bomb followed two paths, one using uranium-235, which occurs naturally, and the other man-made plutonium. In the end, both were built and used: The uranium-based “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima, while the plutonium-based “Fat Man” laid waste to Nagasaki.

How heavily populated cities came to be chosen as the targets remains a matter of controversy. The scientists involved in developing the bomb favored demonstrating their weapon to the Japanese in an isolated area, but military and political planners rejected the idea, arguing that the shock of total destruction would have a more profound impact.

The United States maintains to this day that the decision to drop the bomb was made primarily to avoid the necessity of invading the Japanese home islands, an undertaking that would have resulted in enormous casualties on both sides. But that argument ignores the deterioration of Japanese resolve by that point in the war.

Although the emperor’s government rejected the Potsdam Declaration in late July, which called for an immediate and unconditional surrender, the Japanese had been sending out peace feelers through the Soviet Union, and early signs of starvation, even on the main island, were apparent.

Many historians believe that the real U.S. motive for dropping the bomb was to end the war quickly before the Russians could become involved, thereby denying them a postwar stake in the Pacific — and, by practical example, to send a message to Stalin.

Whatever the reasons, the bombs were dropped, and most of the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project later expressed remorse for what they had wrought.

Read More http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010 ... z0vrAjdt3X

[boxxy]

my parents work at the labs that produced the manhattan project. Einstein himself helped pave the way for the science that created these atrocities


sad that it came to that really, glad I wasn't around for such things

[drummerpig]

I remember my freshman history teacher showing us this disturbing, but historically accurate, anime film depicting the bombing of Hiroshima as seen by a survivor. Here's the clip where the bomb actually drops. The thumbnail of the video is disturbing enough so I won't embed it, but here's the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfJZ6nwxD38

[knell]

I remember my freshman history teacher showing us this disturbing, but historically accurate, anime film depicting the bombing of Hiroshima as seen by a survivor. Here's the clip where the bomb actually drops. The thumbnail of the video is disturbing enough so I won't embed it, but here's the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfJZ6nwxD38

wow.... brought tears to my eyes

[honey-d]

I remember my freshman history teacher showing us this disturbing, but historically accurate, anime film depicting the bombing of Hiroshima as seen by a survivor. Here's the clip where the bomb actually drops. The thumbnail of the video is disturbing enough so I won't embed it, but here's the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfJZ6nwxD38

Another really good tear jerker anime about WW2 was Grave of the Fireflies, definitely check it out for another look at the Japanese' vantage point of the bombing.



Sad just thinking about it =(

[lloydnoise]

Grave of the Fireflies is pure

some crazy pictures here

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/0 ... s_ago.html

some idiotic comments as well
"four words, it ended the war"

what a fucktard

[64hz]

i got really fucked up the other day by thinking about MAD.
everyone wiped out, in the blink of an eye. its too much, we shouldnt have that power.

[fretn]

There would have been more casualties in the assault on the main island than those 2 bombs combined.

It was a dirty way, but they did it... and wwII ended. You have no clue how hardcore the japanese were.

[fretn]

i got really fucked up the other day by thinking about MAD.
everyone wiped out, in the blink of an eye. its too much, we shouldnt have that power.

I saw this at uni last year.
MAD was the only assurance both superpowers had in order to save their countries.
Mutually Assured Destruction, simple as that. You launch, I launch too. It's really the best insurance there is; hostaging the other one's population.

[64hz]

all it takes is kim jong il to get outta bed on the wrong side.

i know its unlikely, but its possible , which is the fucked up thing.
200,000 years of human evolution just vanish.

[Kaneda]

I remember my freshman history teacher showing us this disturbing, but historically accurate, anime film depicting the bombing of Hiroshima as seen by a survivor. Here's the clip where the bomb actually drops. The thumbnail of the video is disturbing enough so I won't embed it, but here's the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfJZ6nwxD38

Thanks for linking. Shit brought tears to my eyes.

There would have been more casualties in the assault on the main island than those 2 bombs combined.

It was a dirty way, but they did it... and wwII ended. You have no clue how hardcore the japanese were.

This is sad but true. My grandfather fought in the Army Corps of Engineers on Okinawa, which is pretty much home turf... He never told me much before he died, but from what he did tell me, it was obviously hell. To say the Japanese were pretty fucking hardcore is an understatement.

[oli90]

Does anyone here live in the states and been through school there. Do they go into detail about the bombs or do they just glance over it and focus on how bad all the other countries are?

[Kaneda]

Does anyone here live in the states and been through school there. Do they go into detail about the bombs or do they just glance over it and focus on how bad all the other countries are?

Plenty of discussions about it actually, though not until late in high-school. Opinions are actually pretty divided on the issue it seems to me. Some think it was justified via "full scale invasion would be worse" and some think it was horrible no matter what.

I sway towards the former.

[oli90]

Does anyone here live in the states and been through school there. Do they go into detail about the bombs or do they just glance over it and focus on how bad all the other countries are?

Plenty of discussions about it actually, though not until late in high-school. Opinions are actually pretty divided on the issue it seems to me. Some think it was justified via "full scale invasion would be worse" and some think it was horrible no matter what.

I sway towards the former.

Fair play. I thought it'd be like in England where they mention in history that we used to have a world spanning empire. But fail to mention that we obtained it by bullying and pillaging weaker countries and slave trading.

I think most countries have done something absurdly cuntish in their time.

[Kaneda]

Does anyone here live in the states and been through school there. Do they go into detail about the bombs or do they just glance over it and focus on how bad all the other countries are?

Plenty of discussions about it actually, though not until late in high-school. Opinions are actually pretty divided on the issue it seems to me. Some think it was justified via "full scale invasion would be worse" and some think it was horrible no matter what.

I sway towards the former.

Fair play. I thought it'd be like in England where they mention in history that we used to have a world spanning empire. But fail to mention that we obtained it by bullying and pillaging weaker countries and slave trading.

I think most countries have done something absurdly cuntish in their time.

Save for Canada. They seem to be pretty nice.

[oli90]

Does anyone here live in the states and been through school there. Do they go into detail about the bombs or do they just glance over it and focus on how bad all the other countries are?

Plenty of discussions about it actually, though not until late in high-school. Opinions are actually pretty divided on the issue it seems to me. Some think it was justified via "full scale invasion would be worse" and some think it was horrible no matter what.

I sway towards the former.

Fair play. I thought it'd be like in England where they mention in history that we used to have a world spanning empire. But fail to mention that we obtained it by bullying and pillaging weaker countries and slave trading.

I think most countries have done something absurdly cuntish in their time.

Save for Canada. They seem to be pretty nice.

They put milk in bags. They're the worst if anything.

[Kaneda]

Does anyone here live in the states and been through school there. Do they go into detail about the bombs or do they just glance over it and focus on how bad all the other countries are?

Plenty of discussions about it actually, though not until late in high-school. Opinions are actually pretty divided on the issue it seems to me. Some think it was justified via "full scale invasion would be worse" and some think it was horrible no matter what.

I sway towards the former.

Fair play. I thought it'd be like in England where they mention in history that we used to have a world spanning empire. But fail to mention that we obtained it by bullying and pillaging weaker countries and slave trading.

I think most countries have done something absurdly cuntish in their time.

Save for Canada. They seem to be pretty nice.

They put milk in bags. They're the worst if anything.

Holy fuck. Pics or it didnt happen.

[oli90]

[Kaneda]

Good enough for me!


FUCK CANADA

[oli90]

They made maple syrup doe.

OOT AND ABOOT AY.