August 6, 1945: The Beginning of the Atomic Age

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August 6, 1945.

Sixty-three years ago, the bombing of Hiroshima helped bring about the end of the most destructive world in the history of the world.

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear attacks at the end of World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at the order of U.S. President Harry S. Truman on August 6 and 9, 1945. After six months of intense firebombing of 67 other Japanese cities, the nuclear weapon "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima on Monday, August 6, 1945, followed on August 9 by the detonation of the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb over Nagasaki. These are to date the only attacks with nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.
--Wikipedia: Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Japan announced its surrender six days later on August 15, 1945.

To all those who sit in comfort in 2006 and render judgment on those who lived and made decisions sixty-three years ago, a few reminders.

1- Those in 2006 do not have husbands, brothers and sons who would have faced certain death in an invasion of Japan in 1945.

2- Did not have to live through the preceding four years of nearly total war.

Those who argue in favor of the decision to drop the bombs generally assert that they caused the Japanese surrender, preventing massive casualties on both sides in the planned invasion of Japan.

Those who argue against the decision to drop the bombs characterize them as inherently immoral, war crimes or, crimes against humanity and/or state terrorism. They may also argue that they were militarily unnecessary.

Regardless, today is the 63rd anniversary of the beginning of the Atomic Age.

From that point forward, the stakes for disagreements between nations were raised immeasurably.

by Mondoreb
image: RidesAPaleHorse

Terrorist Alert: Atom Bomb Attack Instructions from the '50s

"Duck and Cover"

Not sure what to do when the next time terrorists detonate an atom bomb in Kansas City?

Take 2 minutes to review these tips from the 1950s instructional video we found.

Brings back the days of the old atom bomb drills we did in first grade in Dallas, TX. Everyone would go into the hallway, kneel down and put their heads on the floor next to their lockers.



If you couldn't make it to the hallway, you were to crawl under your desk and cover up with your hands.

The effectiveness of the instructions can't be argued with: How many first-grade students in Dallas ever died in an atom bomb attack?



Of course, by the 1970s, nuclear weapons had changed the strategic calculation and survival instructions. The formula was boiled down to an even simpler set of rules.



The last 2 instructions on the poster above were:

6. Immediately upon seeing the brilliant nuclear flash, bend over and place your head firmly between your legs.

7. Then kiss your ass goodbye.

Sometimes, it's hard to improve on good advice from the past.

by Mondoreb
images:
* thenervousbreakdown
* flatrock
* posters



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DBKP Today in Weird History: January 27, 2008

WAR, DISASTERS, CLINTONS, OOPS, PATENTS, TARZAN, SPORTS, PROGRESS, TRIALS, JEWS, SPIES, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, ATOMIC BOMB, DIPLOMACY, HOME, SORORITY, MARCH, DEMOCRATS, BORN, BIRTHDAY, DEATH



1967 Astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo spacecraft at Cape Kennedy, Fla.

WAR!

1943 Some 50 bombers struck Wilhelmshaven in the first all-American air raid against Germany during World War II.

1944 The Soviet Union announced the complete end of the deadly German siege of Leningrad, which had lasted for more than two years.

1945 Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.

2003 The Bush administration dismissed Iraq's response to U.N. disarmament demands as inadequate. Meanwhile, chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix charged that Iraq had never genuinely accepted U.N. resolutions demanding its disarmament and warned that "cooperation on substance" was necessary for a peaceful solution.

DISASTERS

1891 Mine explosion kills 109 at Mount Pleasant PA.

1902 5 workers killed on explosion during IRT subway construction (New York City NY).

1993 DC-3 crashes in Kinshasa, killing 12.

1998 Crane crashes into Roosevelt Is (New York City NY) Tram, injuring 10.

CLINTONS

1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton (D) & Genifer Flowers accuse each other of lying over her assertion they had a 12-year affair.

1998 Shaken by scandal over his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, President Bill Clinton sought to reassert his leadership in his State of the Union address, urging Congress to "save Social Security first" before cutting taxes or increasing spending. Earlier in the day, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, on NBC's "Today" show, charged the allegations against her husband were the work of a "vast right-wing conspiracy."

OOPS

1984 Michael Jackson is burned during filming for Pepsi commercial.

PATENT

In 1880, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.

TARZAN

1918 "Tarzan of the Apes", 1st Tarzan film, premieres at Broadway Theater.

SPORTS

1927 Harlem Globetrotters play their 1st game.

1967 New Orleans Saints sign their 1st player (Paige Cothren-kicker).

PROGRESS

1948 1st locomotive to carry 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) operates.

1948 1st tape recorder sold.

TRIAL

1992 Mike Tyson goes on trial for rape (he is found guilty).

SPIES

1969 14 spies hung in Baghdad.

JEWS

1969 9 Jews publicly executed in Damascus Syria.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1976 "Laverne & Shirley" spin-off from "Happy Days" premieres on ABC TV.

ATOMIC BOMB

1951 An era of atomic testing in the Nevada desert began as an Air Force plane dropped a 1-kiloton bomb on Frenchman Flat.

DIPLOMACY

1967 More than 60 nations signed a treaty banning the orbiting of nuclear weapons.

1973 The Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.

HOME

1981 President Ronald Reagan greeted the 52 former American hostages released by Iran at the White House.

SORORITY

1870 1st sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) (DePauw University in Greencastle IN).

DEMOCRATS

2007 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led a congressional delegation to Pakistan, where she met with President General Pervez Musharraf.

MARCH

Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators marched in Washington, D.C., calling for the U.S. to get out of Iraq.

BORN

1756 composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria.

1836 Leopold von Sacher-Masoch Austrian writer (masochism).

1850 Samuel Gompers Dutch/US, 1st president-American Federation of Labor.

1859 Kaiser Wilhelm II Potsdam, German emperor (1888-1918).

1872 Learned Hand Albany NY, Chief judge (US Court of Appeals).

1919 David Seville [Ross Bagdasarian], Fresno CA, (Alvin & Chipmunks).

1921 Donna Reed Denison IA, actress (From Here to Eternity, Wonderful Life).

BIRTHDAY

Singer Bobby "Blue" Bland is 78. Actor James Cromwell is 68. Actor John Witherspoon is 66. Rock musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 63. Rhythm-and-blues singer Nedra Talley (The Ronettes) is 62. Ballet star Mikhail Baryshnikov is 60. John Roberts, chief justice of the United States, is 53. Country singer Cheryl White is 53. Country singer-musician Richard Young (The Kentucky Headhunters) is 53. Actress Mimi Rogers is 52. Rock musician Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) is 51. Rock singer Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) is 47. Rock musician Gillian Gilbert is 47. Actress Bridget Fonda is 44. Actor Alan Cumming is 43. Country singer Tracy Lawrence is 40. Rock singer Mike Patton is 40. Rapper Tricky is 40. Rock musician Michael Kulas (James) is 39. Actor Josh Randall is 36. Country singer Kevin Denney is 32.

DEATH

1851 John James Audubon conservationist (Audubon Society), dies at 65.

1901 Opera composer Giuseppe Verdi died in Milan, Italy, at age 87.

1993 Andre "the Giant" Roussimoff WWF wrestler, dies of heart attack at 49.


January 27, the 27th day of 2008. There are 339 days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
images:
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Paul W. Tibbets: A Tribute

Many will not know who this man is.
Many will remember only one thing about him and revile him.
Many others, old warriors, will remember him as the man that saved their lives.
He was called upon to do his duty, a terrible task.
And he did it with no regrets.
General Tibbets now joins his comrades in arms.
Farewell old friend. We are grateful for your service.


On February 25, 1937, he enlisted as a flying cadet in the Army Air Corps at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1938 and received his wings at Kelly Field, Texas. Tibbets was named commanding officer of the 340th Bomb Squadron, 97th Heavy Bomb Group flying B-17 Flying Fortresses in March, 1942. Based at RAF Polebrook, he piloted the lead bomber on the first Eighth Air Force bombing mission in Europe on August 17, 1942, and later flew combat missions in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations until returning to the U.S. to test fly B-29 Superfortresses. "By reputation", Tibbets was "the best flier in the Army Air Force". One of those who confirmed this reputation was Dwight Eisenhower, for whom Tibbets served as a personal pilot at times during the war.

In September 1944 he was selected to command the project at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, that became the 509th Composite Group, in connection with the Manhattan Project's Project Alberta.

On August 5, 1945, Colonel Paul Tibbets formally named B-29 serial number 44-86292 Enola Gay after his mother (she was named after the heroine, Enola, of a novel her father had liked). On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay departed Tinian Island in the Marianas with Tibbets at the controls at 2:45 a.m. for Hiroshima, Japan. The atomic bomb, codenamed Little Boy, was dropped over Hiroshima at 8:15 a.m. local time, killing about 140,000 Japanese, with many more dying later.

In 1959, he was promoted to Brigadier General. He retired from the U.S. Air Force on August 31, 1966.

--Historical info from Wikipedia.
Tribute and graphic: RidesAPaleHorse



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