That, and the other A-bomb that dropped in Nagasaki finally compelled Japan’s Emperor Hirohito to announce their unconditional surrender in World War II. The uranium bomb called “Little Boy” instantly killed 80,000 people and a lot more later on due to radiation exposure. The next day, Paul Tibbets flew Enola Gay, his B-29 serial number 4486292 that he chose and named after his mother. It was August 5, 1945, when President Truman approved the use of atomic weapons against Japan. A Quick Look Back at The Day of The Bombing Effects of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (Wikimedia Commons). Rather than taking his rightful place in a grave at Arlington National Cemetery, Tibbets himself asked not to be buried there for a very particular reason. He died on November 1, 2007, at his home in Columbus, Ohio, at 92.
Paul Tibbets was the pilot of B-29 bomber “Enola Gay” which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.