9 August 1945
Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki
If Allied military planners expected that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima would bring about an immediate Japanese surrender, they were disappointed. After waiting for three days for some sort of offer from Tokyo, President Truman ordered a second atomic attack, this time against the city of Kokura. Another B-29—this one called “Bock’s Car”—flew to Japan, but its crew found conditions there too hazy to make an accurate drop. They therefore flew on to their designated secondary target, Nagasaki, and dropped their atomic cargo on that city instead. The results this time were less dramatic than Hiroshima, but still devastating—39,000 were killed, and another 25,000 seriously injured.

Histories:
The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The Effects of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Photographs:
A dense column of smoke rises more than 60,000 feet into the air over the Japanese port of Nagasaki, the result of an atomic bomb
In the background, a Roman Catholic cathedral on a hill in Nagasaki
Nagasaki Jouney—The Photographs of Yosuke Yamahata