August 1 — August 31, 2024
History Matters
Showing our children that their past is prelude to their future, with book recommendations
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The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On August 6, 1945—three years and nine months after the Japanese nearly demolished Pearl Harbor, a Boeing Superfortress B-29–the Enola Gay–swooped over Hiroshima and discharged “Little Boy” as two pilots watched 16,000 tons of TNT level most of the city. The direct effects from it—and the subsequent radiation sickness—took about 100,000 lives.
President Harry Truman, who made the final decision to drop it, said, “This is the greatest thing in history. It’s time for us to get home.” Later he warned the Japanese that if they failed to surrender, “they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as they have not yet seen and with the fighting skill of which they are already well aware.”
The president wished to avoid an invasion of Japan, which military planners–had warned– would probably cause vast numbers of American casualties.
As if to reinforce his warning words, a second bomb— “Fat Man” –was released three days later in Nagasaki; it killed thousands more. Finally, the seemingly implacable Japanese gave in five days later. General Douglas MacArthur accepted it on the deck of the USS Missouri with the stirring words, “Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always. These proceedings are closed.”
For more information, the Grateful American Book Prize recommends The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes.
Atomic bomb mushroom clouds over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right)
The death of Elvis Presley
On August 16, 1977, Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock and Roll” and one of the most famous men in the world, died at Memphis Baptist Hospital.
Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, 42 years earlier, Presley had moved–to Memphis—with his parents. By the time he was 21, he was a worldwide sensation. Heavily influenced by African American music, and possessed of a magnetic charm and warm, honeyed voice, Presley delighted young fans and scandalized their parents.
He starred in 31 films of uneven quality; generated hit after hit—and sold approximately half a billion records. His marriage to the much-younger Priscilla Beaulieu bewitched his fans and provided the tabloids with fodder—for years.
Drug abuse and overeating ruined Presley’s health; in later years he got obese and struggled to sing. Although he continued to perform in Las Vegas and on television specials, the old magic had gone. Finally, his heart gave out; he was found unconscious on the bathroom floor at Graceland, his beloved Memphis mansion. Within hours, he was dead.
Presley’s August 18th funeral was a national event; eighty thousand people lined the route from Graceland to the cemetery. Even in death he could not rest; an attempt was made to steal his body, so his remains were transferred to the garden of Graceland—where—even now– grief-stricken mourners visit.
For more information, the Grateful American Book Prize recommends Peter Guralnick’s Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley.
Elvis Presley dies at 42
Michael F. Bishop, a writer and historian, is the former executive director of the International Churchill Society and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
History Matters is a feature courtesy of the Grateful American Book Prize, an annual award for high quality, 7th to 9th grade-level books dealing with important moments in history.
