In 1939 it was realized that atoms could be split. By splitting a uranium atom in half, both halves of the atom would have a positive charge and would repel each other with powerful force. The German government took little notice of the finding at first. But others felt the implications were immediately clear. Niels Bohr brought news of Meitner's discovery to the United States in 1939. Several scientists, realizing that fission could be used to build …showed first 75 words of 1001 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1001 total…a secret until the end. Twenty-one days after the test, the B-29 bomber Enola Gay dropped the uranium bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later the plutonium bomb was used to bomb Nagasaki. The two bombs killed approximately 150,000 people when they fell. Earlier in the year, intense bombing of Tokyo with conventional bombs had killed about 100,000 people without causing Japan to surrender, but on August 15, 1945, Japan officially surrendered, bringing an end to World War II.