On July 16, 1945, the world changed. The very first nuclear explosion was set free. Before that of course, the atomic bomb had to be built to have the nuclear explosion. In New Mexico, in March of 1938, 100 tons of TNT were gathered. Then on December 2, 1942, the first man-made chain reaction of uranium was made successful. That reaction forged the materials necessary for the creation of the atomic bomb.
The first bomb was called the Little Boy. The Little Boy had a very simple design. It was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Three days later, Fat Man was dropped onto Nagasaki, Japan. Soon, the United States conducted many nuclear tests. Some tests were Able, Baker, Charlie, X-Ray, Yoke, Ranger-Able, Easy, Item, and George. Russia launched its first nuclear bomb soon after these test took place. The event took place on August 29, 1949.
Soon, the hydrogen bomb was oked for testing by President Truman. The first successful hydrogen bomb explosion was Ivy Mike. It was housed in a large aluminum building on an island called Elugelab. The bomb exploded on November 1, 1952. Castle Bravo was another hydrogen bomb explosion. This bomb was the first dry fuel hydrogen bomb. The bomb detonated on February 28, 1954. This created the Bravo Crater.
The nuclear battlefield included many atomic bomb explosions. One operation was called Upshot-Knothole. This operation included a test called Encore. Encore was a 27 kiloton nuclear bomb set off in Nevada on May 8, 1953. Another test was called Grable. This bomb was exploded on May 25, 1953. This test was even more damaging than the last; However, it was only 15 kilotons.
Effects of radiation are very deadly. Strontium 90 follows calcium through the bones. It then sets in the bone and causes a threat to the bone/ bone marrow, which can cause bone cancer. However, after finding this out, test were still taking place. Some of operations included Operation Plumbbob, Operation Dominic, and Operation Hardtack which included a series of different nuclear tests. Operation Dominic was even a series of tests that was in space. This helped nuclear weaponing join the space age. However, President Kennedy soon banned atomic bomb testing. Tightrope was the last atmospheric test. In the end, 331 atmospheric tests were conducted.
