August 6, 1945: A date which will live in infamy

ter·ror·ism - the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.

65 years ago today, the government of the United States dropped the world's first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing instantly about 70,000 people, including men, women, children, and American prisoners of war. Given the long-term effects of the radioactive fallout, the actual death toll climbed to around 150,000 within five years of the explosion.

That event on August 6, 1945 (along with the subsequent bombing of Nagasaki three days later), launched a global nuclear arms race and set the stage for the Cold War. Despite all the fear mongering about Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction" and Iran's nuclear reactors, the U.S. remains the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons against another.