On 6 August 1945, the U.S. dropped an <answer>atomic bomb</answer> on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in the first nuclear attack in history. In a press release issued after the <answer>atomic bomb</answer>ing of Hiroshima, Truman warned Japan to surrender or "...expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth." Three days later, on 9 August, the U.S. dropped another <answer>atomic bomb</answer> on Nagasaki, the last nuclear attack in history. More than 140,000–240,000 people died as a direct result of these two bombings. The necessity of the <answer>atomic bomb</answer>ings has long been debated, with detractors claiming that a naval blockade and aerial bombing campaign had already made invasion, hence the <answer>atomic bomb</answer>, unnecessary. However, other scholars have argued that the bombings shocked the Japanese government into surrender, with Emperor finally indicating his wish to stop the war. Another argument in favor of the <answer>atomic bomb</answer>s is that they helped avoid Operation Downfall, or a prolonged blockade and bombing campaign, any of which would have exacted much higher casualties among Japanese civilians. Historian Richard B. Frank wrote that a Soviet invasion of Japan was never likely because they had insufficient naval capability to mount an amphibious invasion of Hokkaidō.
America dropped what on August 6, 1945?
atomic bomb