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Edward Teller First Proposes the Idea of a Hydrogen Bomb
Note date is not accurate to the day, only to the year
Was suggested and active work was started that summer at Los Alamos. It was put on the back burner as there was a major flaw in the design and the development of a fission bomb over a fusion/fission combo bomb was much more promising; however, research continued. Citation: http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/history/cold-war/hydrogen-bomb/comments-bethe.htm
Picture Citation: http://www.atomicarchive.com/History pg4 -
Soviet Union Detonates its First Atomic Weapon
The Soviet Union, headed by Igor Kurchatov, used stolen plans from the Manhatten Project to construct a near copy of the Fat Man bomb. They tested it at Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan. Pushes the U.S. to consider the Hydrogen Bomb more seriously in order to stay ahead in the Arms Race. Citation for information: http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/coldwar/page03.shtml
Citation for Picture: http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/coldwar/page03.shtml -
Stainslaw Ulam Reviews Teller's Calculations
Note date is accurate to the year but not to the day
Stainslaw Ulam reviewed the work of Edward Teller during a period of time when Teller was pushing for the creation of an actual device. He discovered an error in the calculations bringing the current work to a halt. Citation: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/filmmore/reference/interview/rhodes04.html -
President Truman Approves the Development of a H-Bomb
Note the date is accurate to the year not to the day
President Truman approves the continuation of the development of the H-Bomb despite staunch opposition from the likes of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and I.I. Rabi. They claimed that because this bomb had limitless destructive potential, it endangered the entire human race. Citation: http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/coldwar/page04.shtml -
Ulam-Teller Design
Note date is accurate to the year not to the day
Edward Teller was given the idea by Ulam to separate the fission trigger of the current design and the fusion fuel; therefore, the explosive energy of the first bomb would ignite the fusion fuel multiplying the energy. Teller took the idea, but instead used radiation to trigger the ignition of the fuel resulting in a staging effect and the possibility of multi-megaton thermonuclear devices. Citation:http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/02/22/wee -
First Thermonuclear Weapons Test
The US detonates the first hydrogen bomb November 1, 1952 on an island in the Pacific named Eniwetok Atoll. Operation Codename "Mike". Citation for imformation: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX63.html
Picture citation: -
Soviet Union Detonates Thier first Fusion Based Device
Soviet Union detonate an experimental fusion device on a tower in Siberia. The device yielded 400 kilotons. Compared to the U.S.'s "Mike" it was a small blast but it was also a much smaller devce. Citation for information and picture: http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/coldwar/page07.shtml -
The "BRAVO" Test is Done
A test of a weaponized version of what had been used in the "Mike" test, was detonated on the Bikini Atolls. Originally estimated at a 5 megaton blast, due to an overlooked reaction, the bomb actually had a blastforce of 14.8 megatons. Citation for information and picture: http://www.atomicarchive.com/History/coldwar/page06.shtml -
Soviet Test the Most Powerful Bomb Ever Made
The "Tsar Bomb" is tested yielding 58 megatons, the largest explosion ever. It was boasted by the the Russian leader of the time, Nikita Khurshchev, said it could have been bigger.
