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Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered the radioactivity of uranium
Radioactive elements emit radiant energy in the form of alpha, beta and gamma rays. -
Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassman, Lise Meitner produced Uranium nuclear fission
Otto Hahn received Nobel Prize in 1944 -
Period: to
$2 billion spent on Manhattan Project in US
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Einstein writes to Pres. Roosevelt
Writes to Roosevelt telling him the US should make a atom bomb. -
Start of atom bomb research in US.
$6,000 was made available to start research under the supervision of a committee headed by L.J. Briggs, director of the National Bureau of Standards. -
Plutonium was discoverd.
Glenn Seaborg and his team discoverd the new element by having uranium-238 atoms absorb neutrons which had been emitted from fissioning uranium-235 atoms. -
President Roosevelt authorizes the Manhattan Engineering.
The day before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt authorizes the Manhattan Engineering District with $2 billion to build the atom bomb. -
Frank Oppenheimer's students confirmed that a fission bomb was theoretically possible.
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Period: to
Manhattan Project
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First controlled and self-sustained nuclear fission reaction.
At the University of Chicago, in a squash court under Stagg Field, Enrico Fermi and his team produce the world's first controlled and self-sustained nuclear fission reaction. Resulting in nuclear energy and led to the cration of the atomic bomb and nuclear power plants. -
Period: to
Oppenheimer heads Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Oppenheimer split the Manhattan Project into two seperate projects
Thin man project- Plutonium gun
Fat Man project- Plutanium implosion -
Decision to use A-Bomb against Japan
The United States decided that when the A-Bomb became operationally that they would use it against Japan if necessary -
Albert Einstein's involvement in production of A-Bomb stops
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Truman finds out about the A-Bomb
Harry Truman didnt even know about the A-Bomb until the death of Pres. Roosevelt in Apr. 1945 -
Scientists who led the building of A-Bomb Speak out
Scientists who led the building the A-Bomb said it was a deterrent to Nazi use of their own A-Bomb -
First Atomic Bomb Test
The first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945 in the desert near Alamogordo, New Mexico. -
Protest by scientists over potential bombing of Japan with atomic bombs.