Today in history: Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima

On August 6, 1945, the United States became the first an only nation to use an atomic weapon during war when Enola Gay -- an American bomber -- dropped a five-ton atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

The incredibly powerful blast immediately killed 80,000 people and tens of thousands more died from wounds and radiation poisoning in the following weeks. Three days after the first bomb was dropped, the U.S. dropped a bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, killing approximately 40,000 more people.

While this action marked the end of World War II, many historians argue that it also instigated the Cold War.

See the photo gallery below for a look back on Hiroshima:

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