⏰ when
When Was the First Nuclear Weapon Tested?
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Quick Answer
The first nuclear test, codenamed Trinity, took place on 16 July 1945 in New Mexico.
The Full Story
The Trinity test occurred at 5:29 AM on 16 July 1945 in the Jornada del Muerto desert, New Mexico, as part of the Manhattan Project. The plutonium implosion device produced a blast equivalent to about 21 kilotons of TNT, creating a mushroom cloud over 12 km high. Less than a month later, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima (6 August) and Nagasaki (9 August), leading to Japan's surrender. Over 2,000 nuclear tests have been conducted worldwide since Trinity.
Key Facts
1.J. Robert Oppenheimer famously recalled, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
2.The blast created a crater of radioactive glass called "trinitite."
3.The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (1996) bans all nuclear explosions but has not yet entered into force.
YouTube Angle
Suggested video title for this topic:
"Trinity — The Dawn of the Nuclear Age"