At 8:15 a.m. local time on Aug. 6, 1945, an American B-29 aircraft named Enola Gay dropped a 9,700-pound uranium …
At 8:15 a.m. local time on Aug.6,1945, an American B-29 aircraft named Enola Gay dropped a 9,700-pound uranium bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” over Hiroshima, Japan, in the closing days of World War II. About 70,000 people were killed instantly. By 1950, the death toll reached an estimated 200,000 as survivors succumbed to burns, radiation sickness and cancer. Three days after Hiroshima was bombed, a second atomic bomb was unleashed over Nagasaki, with 40,000 people killed and 140,000 dead within five years. Three-quarters of a century later, tensions and uncertainties over nuclear weapons are among the most serious problems facing the U. S. Meanwhile, the stories of atomic bomb survivors have shaped the way we think about the consequences of using nuclear weapons. As states pull back on reopenings amid the coronavirus pandemic, economists will be watching closely when the Labor Department releases its latest jobless claims figures Thursday. A broad measure of layoffs likely continued to hover just below 1.5 million last week, economists say, highlighting a labor market recovery that has lost steam as many states pause or reverse reopenings amid COVID-19 spikes.
