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Deuterium
Deuterium is discovered by Harold C. Urey -
Nuclear Fission in War
Robert Oppenheimer realizes the first military possibilities of nuclear fission -
Period: to
WWII
The war that caused the use of the atomic bomb -
Plutonium
Plutonium is discovered by Glenn Seaborg -
Beginning
FDR gives the go-ahead for the development of an atomic weapon -
Manhattan Project
FDR authorizes the Manhattan Engineering District -
Colonel Leslie Groves
Colonel Groves is placed in charge of the Manhattan Project -
Target
Japan becomes the future target for any atomic bomb -
Harry Truman
FDR dies. Harry Truman becomes president -
Warning
A petition, started by Leo Szilard, attempts to stop the use of the atomic bomb -
Trinity Test
The world's first atomic detonation takes place in Alamogrodo, New Mexico -
Orders
President Truman orders atomic bombs to be used -
Little Boy
Little Boy, a uranium bomb, is detonated over Hiroshima, Japan. It kills between 90,000 and 100,000 people immediately.