Everybody knows that on August 6 and 9, 1945, nuclear weapons were dropped on two Japanese cities. In Hiroshima, about 150 thousand civilians died, in Nagasaki - up to 80 thousand.
These dates for life became mourning in the minds of millions of Japanese. Every year more and more secrets are revealed about these terrible events, which will be discussed in our article.
1. If anyone survived after a nuclear explosion, tens of thousands of people began to suffer from radiation sickness.
For decades, the Research Radiation Fund has studied 94,000 people to create a cure for the disease that struck them.
2. Oleander is the official symbol of Hiroshima. Do you know why? This is the first plant that bloomed in the city after a nuclear explosion.
3. According to recent scientific studies, those who survived the atomic bombing received an average dose of radiation equal to 210 milliseconds. For comparison: the computer tomography of the head irradiates in 2 milliseconds, and here - 210 (!).
4. On that terrible day, before the explosion, according to the census, the number of residents of Nagasaki was 260 thousand people. To date, it is home to almost half a million Japanese. By the way, by Japanese standards it is still a wilderness.
5. 6 ginkgo trees, located just 2 km from the epicenter of the events, managed to survive.
A year after the tragic events, they blossomed. Today each of them is officially registered as "Hibako Yumoku", which in translation means "tree survivor". Ginkgo in Japan is considered a symbol of hope.
6. After the bombing in Hiroshima, many unsuspecting survivors were evacuated to Nagasaki ...
It is known that of those who survived the bombings in both cities, only 165 people survived.
7. In 1955, a park was opened at the site of the bombing in Nagasaki.
The main thing here was a 30-ton sculpture of a man. It is said that the hand raised upwards reminds of the threat of a nuclear explosion, and the extended left symbolizes the world.
8. Survivors after these terrible events began to be called "hibakushas", which translates as "people affected by the explosion." The surviving children and adults were later severely discriminated against.
Many believed that they could get radiation sickness from them. Hibakusham was difficult to find a job in life, get to know someone, find a job. For decades after the explosions, there were cases when parents of a guy or a girl hired detectives to find out if the second halves of their child are hibakushas.
9. Annually, on August 6, a memorial ceremony takes place in the memorial park of Hiroshima and at exactly 8:15 (time of attack) a minute of silence begins.
10. To the surprise of many scientists, scientific research has shown that the average life expectancy of modern residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, compared to those who were not exposed to radiation in 1945, was reduced by only a couple of months.
11. Hiroshima is on the list of cities that favor the abolition of nuclear weapons.
12. Only in 1958 the population of Hiroshima increased to 410 thousand people, which exceeded the pre-war figure. Today the city is home to 1.2 million people.
13. Among those who died from the bombing, about 10% were Koreans, mobilized by the military.
14. Contrary to popular belief, among children born to women who survived a nuclear attack, there were no various deviations in development, mutations.
15. In Hiroshima, in the Memorial Park, UNESCO's UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Dome of Gambaka, located 160 m from the center of events, is miraculously preserved.
In the building at the time of the explosion, walls collapsed, everything burned inside, and the people inside were killed. Now near the "Atomic Cathedral", as it is customarily called, a memorial stone is erected. Near him, you can always see a symbolic bottle of water, which reminds those who survived the explosion, but died of thirst in the nuclear hell.
16. The explosions were so strong that people died in a fraction of a second, leaving behind only shadows.
These prints were obtained due to the heat released during the explosion, which changed the color of the surfaces - hence the contours of bodies and objects that absorbed part of the blast wave. Some of these shadows can still be seen at the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima.