Rare photo showing mushroom cloud from Hiroshima atomic bombing

[James]

A rare photo showing the mushroom cloud from the Hiroshima atomic bombing in two distinct parts, one above the other, has been discovered in the city, a museum curator said Wednesday.

The black-and-white picture is believed to have been taken about half-an-hour after the bombing on August 6, 1945, around 10 kilometres (six miles) east of the hypocentre.

"The existence of this shot was always known in history books, but this is the first time that...read more here: Rare photo showing mushroom cloud from Hiroshima atomic bombing

 

[Juvenile]

So rare... It was discovered 68 years later. Only kidding. Love to see actual rare footage of historic event and happening.

 

[James]

Terrifying imagery. The bomb delivery was calculated to explode at the ideal height to cause the most destruction and death.

That day marked a point in human history where we stared into the maw of species destruction at our own hands.

Equally as impactful is the Hiroshima memorial cenotaph.

Near the center of the park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The monument is aligned to frame the Peace Flame and the A-Bomb Dome. The Memorial Cenotaph was one of the first memorial monuments built on open field on August 6, 1952. The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims.[3][13]

The cenotaph carries the epitaph "安らかに眠って下さい 過ちは 繰返しませぬから", which means "please rest in peace, for [we/they] shall not repeat the error." In Japanese, the sentence's subject is omitted, thus it could be interpreted as either "[we] shall not repeat the error" or as "[they] shall not repeat the error". This was intended to memorialize the victims of Hiroshima without politicizing the issue, taking advantage of the fact that polite Japanese speech typically demands lexical ambiguity in the first place.[14] The epitaph was written by Tadayoshi Saika, Professor of English Literature at Hiroshima University.[15] He also provided the English translation, "Let all the souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil." On November 3, 1983, an explanation plaque in English was added in order to convey Professor Saika's intent that "we" refers to "all humanity", not specifically the Japanese or Americans, and that the "error" is the "evil of war":

The inscription on the front panel offers a prayer for the peaceful repose of the victims and a pledge on behalf of all humanity never to repeat the evil of war. It expresses the spirit of Hiroshima — enduring grief, transcending hatred, pursuing harmony and prosperity for all, and yearning for genuine, lasting world peace.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ambiguity of the phrase has the potential to offend; some right-wing circles in Japan have interpreted the words as an admission of guilt—implicitly reading it as "we shall not repeat the error"—and they criticize the epitaph as a self-accusation by the Japanese empire. In July 2005, the cenotaph was vandalized by a 27 year old Japanese affiliated with the Japanese right.[16]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Peace_Memorial_Park#Memorial_Cenotaph

 

[matt]

This thread made me remember reading about this guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Yamaguchi), who I guess could be considered super unlucky, or super lucky depending on how you look at it. Can't remember where I read about him before though.

He is the only person recognized to have survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Apparently he was in Hiroshima on business when the city was bombed. He managed to survive that, and went home to Nagasaki, just in time to get bombed there as well.

 

[James]

I recall that story. I read that he was being evacuated on a train to the hospital in Nagasaki and arrived just in time for the second bomb.