For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Japan is commemorating 70 years since the US plane, the Enola Gay, dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima during the Second World War, effectively ending the conflict between Japan and the Allies.
On the morning of Aug. 6, 1945 at 8:15 a.m., 2,000 feet above the ground, a falling atomic bomb detonated, causing 140,000 people to die in a city of 350,000, with 90 per cent of the city in utter ruin.
The city today has been rebuilt, modernised and hosts 1.2 million people. The Atomic Bomb Dome, now a U.N. World Heritage Site, has become the iconic image of Hiroshima.
With much focus of World War Two on the goings on in Europe, as the Allies fought Adolf Hitler's expanding Third Reich, the boundaries of the war in the Pacific and Asia is not as well understood.
To grasp the changing face of the conflict across the globe as the US entered the fray in 1941, this video shows the day by day conflict in just a few minutes:
The video was created by Emperor Tigerstar, who wants "people to learn history the easy way with visual map animations."
Below is another video showing a more detailed look at Europe's boundaries between 1939 and 1945.
How the map of Europe changed during WW2
In pictures: 70th anniversary of atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Show all 15
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies