Nagasaki bomb
Witness History4 Aug 2025

Nagasaki bomb

On 9 August 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, killing at least 74,000 people.

It led to the end of World War Two in Asia, with Japan surrendering to the Allies six days later.

The Nagasaki bomb, alongside the Hiroshima bomb on 6 August, remain the only times nuclear weapons have been used in a war.

In an interview he gave to the BBC in 1980, British prisoner of war Geoff Sherring describes how he survived the explosion. Produced and presented by Rachel Naylor.

This programme was made in collaboration with BBC Archives.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

(Photo: The Nagasaki bomb on 9 August 1945. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Episoder(2000)

Stopping The 'Shoe Bomber'

Stopping The 'Shoe Bomber'

On December 22 2001 a British-born man tried to bring down American Airlines flight 63 from Paris to Miami. His plan failed when the bomb didn't go off. He was then overpowered by a group of passenger...

21 Des 20188min

The Woman Who Wrote Mary Poppins

The Woman Who Wrote Mary Poppins

Writer PL Travers created a children's classic when she invented the magical English nanny. But was the character built around her own personality? Vincent Dowd has been speaking to PL Travers' grandd...

20 Des 20189min

Hacking The First Computer Password

Hacking The First Computer Password

Scientists at MIT in the 1960s had to share computer time. They were given passwords to access the computer and could not use more than their allowance. But one man, Allan Scherr, hacked the system by...

19 Des 20189min

Theatre in the Sahara

Theatre in the Sahara

Theatre director Peter Brook led a troupe of actors on a three-month-long journey across the Sahara Desert starting in December 1972. They performed improvised pieces to local villagers. Louise Hidal...

18 Des 20189min

China and Japan at War

China and Japan at War

Japanese troops reached the Chinese city of Nanjing in December 1937. The violence that followed marked one of the darkest moments in a struggle that continued throughout WW2. Rebecca Kesby has been ...

17 Des 20189min

The US Apologises for Wartime Internment

The US Apologises for Wartime Internment

In 1988 President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act which gave a presidential apology and compensation to Japanese Americans interned during World War II. Farhana Haider has been speaking ...

17 Des 20189min

Englandspiel: The Deadly WW2 Spy Game

Englandspiel: The Deadly WW2 Spy Game

In 1942, a Dutch secret agent was captured by German military intelligence in the Netherlands. The agent's name was Haub Lauwers and he worked for the Special Operations Executive, a secret organisati...

13 Des 201811min

Cicely Saunders And The Modern Hospice Movement

Cicely Saunders And The Modern Hospice Movement

In 1967, Dame Cicely Saunders opened the first modern hospice in South London. St Christopher's inspired the creation of thousands of similar hospices around the world and its scientific research help...

12 Des 20188min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
alt-fortalt
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden-usa
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
popradet
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
grenselos
wolfgang-wee-uncut
fladseth
synnve-og-vanessa
rss-dannet-uten-piano
frokostshowet-pa-p5
min-barneoppdragelse
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
den-politiske-situasjonen
krisemoter