On July 16, 1945, the first nuclear explosion took place in New Mexico, ushering in the atomic and nuclear ages.
Many physicists of the day thought this was impossible.
This day changed the world.
AFNWC:
The world’s first nuclear explosion occurred on July 16, 1945, when a plutonium implosion device was tested at a site located 210 miles south of Los Alamos, New Mexico, on the plains of the Alamogordo Bombing Range, known as the Jornada del Muerto. The code name for the test was “Trinity.”
Hoisted atop a 100-foot tower, a plutonium device, called “Gadget,” detonated at precisely 5:30 am over the New Mexico desert, releasing 18.6 kilotons of power, instantly vaporizing the tower and turning the surrounding asphalt and sand into green glass, called “trinitite.” Seconds after the explosion, an enormous blast sent searing heat across the desert, knocking observers to the ground.
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