Atomic Bombing
At 8:15 on August 6, 1945, Little Boy — the first atomic bomb to be used in war — detonated almost directly above the dome. The building's vertical columns were able to resist the nearly vertical downward force of the blast, and parts of the concrete and brick outer walls remained intact. The center of the blast was displaced 490 feet (150 m) horizontally and 1,968 feet (600 m) vertically from the dome, having slightly missed the original target, the distinctive "T"-shaped Aioi Bridge.. Everyone inside the building was killed instantly.
The Genbaku Dome, originally close to Shima Surgical Clinic was initially scheduled to be demolished with the rest of the ruins, but the fact that it mostly was intact delayed these plans. As Hiroshima was rebuilt around the dome, it became a subject of controversy — some locals wanted it torn down, while others wanted to preserve it as a memorial of the bombing.
Read more about this topic: Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Famous quotes containing the words atomic and/or bombing:
“It is now time to stop and to ask ourselves the question which my last commanding officer, Admiral Hyman Rickover, asked me and every other young naval officer who serves or has served in an atomic submarine. For our Nation M for all of us M that question is, “Why not the best?””
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“Did all of us feel interested in bombing buildings only when the men we slept with were urging us on?”
—Jane Alpert (b. 1947)