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Today in History, August 6th

On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Plus the Voting Rights Act and Gertrude Ederle's English Channel swim.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published August 6, 2026 · Last updated November 10, 2026

August 6 is best known for 1945, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, the first use of a nuclear weapon in war. The date also saw President Lyndon B. Johnson sign the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and Gertrude Ederle become the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926.

The big story: An atomic bomb falls on Hiroshima (1945)

The U.S. had been working on an atomic weapon since 1940, spurred by warnings that Nazi Germany was chasing one too. Germany surrendered before the first test blast in the New Mexico desert in July 1945, but the war with Japan went on. President Harry S. Truman, told that an invasion of Japan would cost huge numbers of American lives, ordered the new weapon used. On August 6, 1945, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped a five-ton bomb on Hiroshima. Its force equaled roughly 15,000 tons of TNT, and it flattened about four square miles of the city. History.com puts the immediate death toll near 80,000, with tens of thousands more dying later from injuries and radiation. Three days later a second bomb hit Nagasaki, and Japan announced its surrender on August 14. Historians still debate the decision, including how much it was also aimed at impressing the Soviet Union. Either way, the nuclear age had begun.

More events on August 6

Year	What happened
1787	Delegates at the Constitutional Convention began debating the first full draft of the U.S. Constitution.
1806	The Holy Roman Empire formally came to an end when Emperor Francis II gave up the imperial crown.
1825	Bolivia declared its independence from Spain.
1926	Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim the English Channel, beating the men’s record by nearly two hours.
1940	The Soviet Union annexed Estonia, ending its independence.
1962	Jamaica became an independent country after about 300 years of British rule.
1965	President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, aimed at tearing down legal barriers that kept African Americans from voting.
1990	The UN Security Council imposed economic sanctions on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait.
1996	NASA and Stanford scientists announced possible signs of ancient life in a Martian meteorite found in Antarctica, a claim that was later discredited.
2012	NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars and began sending back pictures of the surface.
2015	Jon Stewart hosted his final episode of The Daily Show.

Born on August 6

1809: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, English poet and the leading voice of Victorian poetry.
1881: Alexander Fleming, Scottish bacteriologist who discovered penicillin.
1911: Lucille Ball, American comedy star of I Love Lucy, born in Jamestown, New York.
1928: Andy Warhol, American Pop artist and filmmaker, born in Pittsburgh.