1942-1953

By Micah McDowell

  • Agreement for first Atomic Bomb

    On June 20, 1942 the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Winston Churchill, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt met to sign an agreement to make the very first atomic bomb.

  • Manhattan Project

    The first nuclear chain reaction is produced at the University of Chicago in the Manhattan Project, creating fission of the Uranium U-235, under the direction of physicists Arthur Compton and Enrico Fermi.

  • G.I. Bill of Rights

    The G.I. Bill of Rights is signed into law, providing benefits to veterans.

  • Use of Atomic Bomb

    President Harry S. Truman gives the go-ahead for the use of the atomic bomb with the bombing of Hiroshima. Three days later, the second bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

  • Committee on Civil Rights

    President Harry Truman establishes the President's Committee on Civil Rights to investigate the status of civil rights in the United States and propose measures to strengthen and protect the civil rights of American citizens.

  • National Security Act

    President Harry Truman establishes the President's Committee on Civil Rights to investigate the status of civil rights in the United States and propose measures to strengthen and protect the civil rights of American citizens.

  • Hydrogen Bomb

    President Harry S. Truman orders the development of the hydrogen bomb, in response to the detonation of the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb in 1949.

  • U.S. Nuclear Submarine

    The Keel is laid for the U.S. nuclear submarine USS Nautilus.