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Nazi physicists discover fission of Uranium atom
Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi fled their authoritarian countries in fear of creation of a nuclear weapon in Nazi Germany. They came to the U.S. and urged the creation of an atomic research program. The effort to create an atomic bomb was called the manhattan Project. -
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Manhattan Project
The development of nuclear weapons in the United States to combat the Axis powers during World War 2. -
Fermi & Friends Make Breakthrough
A group of physicists led by Enrico Fermi had a breakthrough in their atomic research when they produced the first controlled nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago. The significance of this event is that, one completed funds were allocated more freely and the project progressed with tremendous speed. In the end, nearly 2 billion dollars had been spent on the project and it employed 120,000 Americans in the process. -
U.S. Tests First Atomic Bomb
At Trinity Site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, Oppenheimer (the man put in charge of the first test of the atomic bomb) and the team of scientists responsible for the Manhattan Project watched the detonation of the first atomic bomb in the world. With this test the world enters the nuclear age. -
U.S. Bombs Hiroshima
This is the first time an atomic bomb was used in a war. Dropped by a plane called the "Enola Gay", the bomb instantly vaporized 70,000 Japanese citizens and 100,000 in the months/years that followed (burns/radiation sickness). -
U.S. Bombs Nagasaki
3 days later, the second atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, where 80,000 perished. -
Japan Surrenders
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan to surrender. -
Soviet union conducts first nuclear test
The Soviet Union dropped their first Atomic Bomb called "First Lightning" in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, becoming the second nation to successfully create/detonate an atomic bomb. -
UK tests nuclear weapons in Australia
On this date, the UK conducts their first test at the Montebello Islands off the coast of Western Australia and later tests at Maralinga and Emu fields in South Australia. -
US tests first hydrogen bomb
On this date, the US successfully creates and detonates the hydrogen bomb, which is 500 times more powerful than the atomic bomb, at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. -
France tests first nuclear weapon
On this date, France catches up to the rest of the world with their bomb of 60-70 kilotons, detonated in the Sahara Desert. -
Largest ever bomb test conducted
On this date, the Soviet Union explodes their 58 megaton atmospheric nuclear weapon called "Tsar Bomba". This occurred in Novaya Zemilya off Northern Russia. -
China conducts first ever nuclear test
On this date, China explodes their first nuclear weapon at the Lop Nor testing site in Sinkiang Providence. Not long after they conduct 23 atmospheric tests and 22 tests underground at the sight. -
India conducts first ever nuclear test
India conducts its first nuclear test underground at Pokharan in the Rajasthen desert. -
Nuclear Explosion in indian ocean
A nuclear test explosion occurred in the Indian Ocean off the Cape of Good Hope. It is thought to have been performed by South Africa with assistance from Israel. -
North Korea performs first nuclear test
North Korean Government announced that it has successfully performed its first nuclear test. It became the 8th country in the world to display their nuclear strength to the dismay of the rest of the world.