On July 26, 1945, President Harry Truman called for Japan’s unconditional surrender. When Japan rejected this ultimatum, the U.S. President authorized the dropping of two atomic bombs on the Japanese. The first fell on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The second was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. Japan’s Emperor Hirohito surrendered via a radio address on August 15, 1945, referencing the “new and most cruel bomb.”
