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Leo Szilard starts the idea of an atomic bomb
(The date given is incorrect, my source only gave the year.) In 1934, Leo Szilard suggested the idea of a chain reaction caused by a neutron. In 1936, he was the patented with the atomic bomb. Leo Szilard is the true father of the atomic bomb, -
German Scientists succeed in splitting and atom.
In 1938, German physicists succeeded in splitting and atom. Though splitting one atom doesn't do much damage, when scientists split billions of atoms it causes the atomic bomb. That is what all atomic bombs start with, billions of atoms being split. -
Albert Einstein proclaims that the Nazi's are creating an atomic bomb, Manhattan Project begins
On this day, Albert Einstein wrote to many scientists and Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining to them that Germany was purifying uranium-235. He claimed that doing so would cause them to begin creating atomic bombs. Around this time the Manhattan Project began. This experiment was, in simple terms, the USA's first atomic bomb project. -
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Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project lasted from 1939 to 1945. Over $2 million was spent on The Mahattan Project. This project was to be the project that would begin the trend of nuclear weaponry. The chief of this project was Robert Oppenheimer. -
German chemists discover barium
In December of 1939, German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann discovered the element barium by bashing uranium with neutrons. This was known as the first nuclear fission. A nuclear fission is part of the steps it takes to have an atomic bomb explode. -
First nuclear bomb test
On July 16th, 1945, the USA had the first recorded nuclear bomb test known to the world. This was tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico. It would be just three weeks after this that the world would change. -
USA drops Little Boy on Hiroshima, Japan
on August 6th, 1945 the US dropped an atomic bomb known as Little Boy on Hiroshima, Japan. It killed or wounded up to 130,000 people. This bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay". Little Boy weighed 8,000 pounds and contained a deadly force equal to 12.5 kilotons of TNT. -
The U.S.S.R. detonatese their first bomb
On August 19th, 1949 the Soviet Union announced that they had tested their first nuclear bomb. This brought fear into the US because it was the leading country in nuclear weaponry. This was the beginning of the Cold War. -
US creates a new bomb
After the Soviets showed their power with the atomic bomb, many American scientists joined together to create a new type of bomb. This was known as the H-bomb or the hydrogen bomb. This was one of the first fusion bombs. A fusion bomb has the equivalent of 1,000,000 tons of dynamite. -
Duck and Cover!
In 1951, three million copies of "Duck and Cover" were printed and given to children to teach them what to do if a nuclear bomb dropped. The cartoon consists of a turtle named Bert explaining what to do if an atomice bomb dropped. -
Operation Doorstep comes into affect
Operation Doorstep was tested at the Nevada Proving Grounds in southern Nevada. This test was to see what shelters would survive against the bombs. The shelters were in the basement of two wooden houses. The test was observed seven miles away from the test site. -
North Korea announces successful nuclear warfare test
Finally, on October 9th, 2006, North Korea issued a statement saying that they successfully tested a nuclear bomb. Could this be the start of a new war?
