Light

Nagasaki

Definition

Nagasaki is a city in Japan that was the target of the second atomic bomb dropped by the United States during World War II, on August 9, 1945. This event played a significant role in ending the war.

Analogy

Think of Nagasaki as being like your phone's second alarm in the morning. The first alarm (the bombing of Hiroshima) didn't quite do its job to wake you up (end WWII), so you needed that second alarm to really get you moving.

Related terms

Atomic Bomb: A weapon with great explosive power that results from the sudden release of energy upon the splitting, or fission, of the nuclei of heavy elements such as plutonium or uranium.

Hiroshima: The Japanese city on which the first atomic bomb was dropped by U.S. forces on August 6, 1945.

World War II: A global conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945 involving many world's nations organized into two opposing military alliances - Allies and Axis powers.