This year marks the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US in 1945, the only time in history that nuclear bombs have been used.
The atomic bombs killed tens of thousands of people instantly, with many others succumbing to horrific wounds or radiation sickness days, weeks, months and years afterwards. Subsequent generations, born to the survivors, suffered birth defects. The two cities were just about flattened.