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The stories of atomic bomb survivors. Plus, Christopher Nolan, New York pool days, and who built the Sphinx?

RJ Hamster

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN ON OPPENHEIMER VIEW ONLINE
THEY SURVIVED THE BOMBINGS. THESE ARE THEIR STORIES.
Saturday, July 29, 2023
In today’s newsletter, we pay tribute to those who suffered from the bombsdropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, adventure into the Arctic to find the Northwest Passage, revisit the Sphinx 4,500 years later … and hear Christopher Nolan’s take on Oppenheimer.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY HARUKA SAKAGUCHI

“On the morning of August 9, 1945, I was perched atop a giant persimmon tree in our backyard, catching cicadas,” says Minoru Moriuchi, left. Then “the sun exploded.”

Kumiko Arakawa

, right, who died in 2019, lost both parents and four siblings in the bombing. “At age 20, I was suddenly required to support my surviving family members,” she says.

Nat Geo Explorer Haruka Sakaguchi asked hibakusha, the Japanese term for bomb survivors, were asked to tell their stories nearly 80 years after the explosions—and write down a message for future generations.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
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Just 14 when the bomb hit, Fujio Torikoshi, above left, was in front of his house and saw a black dot in the sky. It then burst into “a ball of blinding light that filled my surroundings,” he said in testimony.

He wasn’t expected to survive from injuries past the age of 20, yet he lived until 2018. “Life is a curious treasure,” he wrote, above right.

“I am a third-generation hibakusha; however, I have not been very cognizant of this throughout my life. Still, there are visible scars all over Nagasaki from the time of the bombing … I hope that visitors to Nagasaki will pass on the stories of terror involving the atomic bomb,” wrote Hideki Kuroita, above right. His daughter, Kiharu, above left, signed her name at the bottom. Read more.
STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING
PHOTOGRAPH BY KENNETH GARRETT
Who built the Sphinx? Who broke its nose? 4,500 years later, a fresh look (Above, a rider takes a rest before the Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza, photographed for a 1913 issue of National Geographic)
Something in our galaxy is flashing every 20 minutes—but what?
‘Magic’ mirror in Elizabethan court has mystical Aztec origin
Feeling nostalgic? Your brain is hardwired to crave it
How does ‘Oppenheimer’ re-create history? We asked Christopher Nolan.
Omega-3s are more critical for your health than we thought
If you’ve felt like people are getting crueler, you may be right
DNA study deepens mystery of lake full of skeletons
Why do colleges have legacy admissions? It started as a way to keep out Jews.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
PHOTOGRAPH BY RENAN OZTURK

Winter is coming: A Nat Geo team set out on a mission to find evidence of Sir John Franklin and his crew of 128 men’s disappearances. The team soon became trapped in a maze of ice floes while searching for the infamous Northwest Passage. (Pictured above, photographer Renan Ozturk from atop the mast of Polar Sun.)
WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?
PHOTO OF THE DAY
PHOTOGRAPH BY HOWELL WALKER, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Splish splash: Beating the summertime heats looks the same 70 years ago as it does today—with a dip in the pool on a hot summer day. The above photo from Nat Geo archives was published in the March 1951 issue, and shows New Yorkers spending a day at the Flushing Meadows pool in Queens.

Related:

A salute to public pools, America’s last great communal spaces
Photos of summertime fun in pools around the world
Public swimming pools are still haunted by segregation’s legacy

TAKE A DIP
LAST GLIMPSE
PHOTOGRAPH BY COREY ARNOLD

Where the wild things are: Barred owls, river otters, pileated woodpeckers, and alligators are only a fraction of the wildlife you might encounter while paddling on the Cedar Creek in Congaree National Park (pictured above). Want to see even more? We narrowed down the top 10 parks in the U.S. to get your fill of animals.
START EXPLORING
Today’s soundtrack: Ok Love You Bye, Olivia Dean

This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Hannah Farrow, and Jen Tse. Amanda Williams-Bryant, Alisher Egamov, Rita Spinks, and Jeremy Brandt-Vorel also contributed this week. Thanks for reading!
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