70 years ago today: The moment the US deployed the most powerful weapon known to man

Amanda MaciasAug 6, 2015, 17:46 IST

YouTube/Amanda Macias/Business Insider

Released from B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay on August 6, 1945 at 8:15 a.m. (Japanese time), the world entered the unprecedented atomic age with the deployment of the most powerful weapon known to man.

Born from the Einstein-inspired Manhattan Project, the first nuclear weapon used in war fell for 44.4 seconds before unleashing approximately 12,500 tons of TNT over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

US Department of Energy

Code-named "Little Boy," the bomb killed 140,000 people and destroyed 90 percent of the city.

A huge expanse of ruins left the explosion of the atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945 in Hiroshima. 140,000 people died because of the disastrous explosion.AP

Three days later, the US dropped another bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, killing about 40,000 people instantly; thousands more would die of radiation poisoning.

Eight days later, Japan informally surrendered to the Allied forces, effectively ending World War II.

Charles Levy/Amanda Macias/Business Insider

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70 years ago today: The moment the US deployed the most powerful weapon known to man

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