Origins
How Albert Changed The War
Albert Einstein had more of an Impact on the development of the nuclear bomb than most people realize. Albert heard from friends in the German community that the Third Reich was working on atomic warfare. With that knowledge, he sent a letter in 1939 to then president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This letter requested that Roosevelt look into developing his own atomic bombs to use if ever needed. A few years later when America had entered the war, Roosevelt recalled this letter and started hiring scientists to work on developing a nuclear war head.
Development
Testing and Testing and Testing
Below is some information about the development of a working nuclear bomb.
Hanford B Reactor
December 28, 1942
The Hanford Site was one of three locations key to the creation of the Atomic Bomb. It was the first plutonium reactor and where plutonium was created for bomb. The other two sites were the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico and the Oak Ridge Enrichment Centers. The Los Alamos Laboratory was where Scientists lived and conducted experiments while Oak Ridge was where Uranium was enriched for use.
Fat Man
July of 1945
After years of testing on July 16, 1945, the first ever atomic bomb was detonated. It was called trinity. Afterwards they developed Uranium enriched bomb "Little Boy" and Plutonium fueled bomb "Fat Man".
Dropping of The Bomb
August 6, 1945
A month after the detonation of Trinity, the first nuclear bomb, "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima. Three days later, "Fat Man" was dropped on Nagasaki. The death toll of both droppings is estimated to be at around 100,000 lives. Five days after "Fat Man", Japan Surrendered.
Impact
Journey Into The Cold
The dropping of the atomic bombs was one of the causes for the Cold War. The reason for this being that President Truman, who had succeeded President Roosevelt after his death, did not inform Stalin of his plan to drop the bombs. Stalin was offended by this and his suspicions of the United States grew. Another reason for the alienation of the Stalin was that the USA had beaten the Japanese without the help of the USSR meaning that they could not gain any land in that area. All this, coupled with many other factors, would lead to a rivalry of sorts between the United States and the Soviet Union lasting 45 years.
"I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds"
Oppenheimer speaking on the impact of the nuclear bomb which he helped develop.
J. Robert Oppenheimer
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