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Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer
Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer
On this Day: U.S. Detonates World’s First Atomic Bomb
July 16, 2008 10:00 AM
On July 16, 1945, the Manhattan Project conducted the Trinity Test in New Mexico, the first atomic bomb detonation in history and the dawn of the Atomic Era.
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In August 1939, Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt advocating the exploration of nuclear fission and its potential use as a weapon. In his letter, Einstein stated that recent research made it increasingly possible “to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power … would be generated.”
Roosevelt did not want to risk a German monopoly on such a weapon and approved uranium research in October 1939. This decision was the first among many that culminated in the Manhattan Project.
The Manhattan Project was America’s top-secret project to develop the atomic bomb. According to Time magazine, the project “had top priority on materiél and Army specialists. But few, if any, of the 65,000 who at one time worked on materials, handled blueprints, and expedited the job, ever knew what ‘Manhattan Project’ was.”
On July 16, 1945, less than three years after the project’s start, the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated on Alamogordo Air Base in New Mexico.
Project leader Gen. Leslie Groves wrote of the detonation, “The test was successful beyond the most optimistic expectations of anyone.” He conservatively estimated the energy generated to be greater than 20,000 tons of dynamite.
Within three weeks of that test, the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced the devastating effects of the new technology. This marked the first and last time a nuclear weapon has been used in combat.
President Harry S. Truman addressed the nation 16 hours after the United States bombed Japan. “What has been done is the greatest achievement of organized science in history,” he said.
Roosevelt did not want to risk a German monopoly on such a weapon and approved uranium research in October 1939. This decision was the first among many that culminated in the Manhattan Project.
The Manhattan Project was America’s top-secret project to develop the atomic bomb. According to Time magazine, the project “had top priority on materiél and Army specialists. But few, if any, of the 65,000 who at one time worked on materials, handled blueprints, and expedited the job, ever knew what ‘Manhattan Project’ was.”
On July 16, 1945, less than three years after the project’s start, the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated on Alamogordo Air Base in New Mexico.
Project leader Gen. Leslie Groves wrote of the detonation, “The test was successful beyond the most optimistic expectations of anyone.” He conservatively estimated the energy generated to be greater than 20,000 tons of dynamite.
Within three weeks of that test, the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced the devastating effects of the new technology. This marked the first and last time a nuclear weapon has been used in combat.
President Harry S. Truman addressed the nation 16 hours after the United States bombed Japan. “What has been done is the greatest achievement of organized science in history,” he said.
Headline Links: ‘The Trinity Test’
The “Trinity Test,” the name given to the detonation of the first atomic bomb, inspired intense reactions in all present. Gen. Leslie Groves later reflected, “As I lay there in the final seconds, I thought only of what I would do if the countdown got to zero and nothing happened.” The U.S. Department of Energy Web site provides a recap of the Trinity Test’s final moments and declares, “At precisely 5:30 a.m. on Monday, July 16, 1945, the nuclear age began.”
Source: U.S. Department of Energy
PBS presents the memorandum written by General Groves to the Secretary of War describing the first nuclear test. “Based on the data which it has been possible to work up to date, I estimate the energy generated to be in excess of the equivalent of 15,000 to 20,000 tons of TNT; and this is a conservative estimate.”
Source: PBS
Background: The Manhattan Project
The U.S. Department of Energy has a “Comprehensive List of Events” describing significant events in the Manhattan Project. The Web site links to information on the earliest atomic discoveries in the late 1800s to 1945 and the post-nuclear age.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy
Later Developments: ‘Birth of an Era’
On August 13, 1945, Time magazine reported on the beginning of the Atomic Age, and quoted President Truman’s announcement. “‘Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese army base,’” Truman said. “‘That bomb had more power than 20,000 tons of TNT. ... It is an atomic bomb. … What has been done is the greatest achievement of organized science in history.’”
Source: Time
Video: ‘Atomic Tourists’
The New York Times looks at how crucial the New York City borough of Manhattan was to the creation of the bomb. William J. Broad, a columnist for The New York Times, narrates a video on the Times’ site: “Air raid practices, rations and blackouts were the every day sights and sounds of Manhattan’s war effort during World War II, but secrecy surrounded New York City’s most significant role in the War—its contribution to the building of the atomic bomb.”
Source: The New York Times
Key Players: General Leslie Groves, J. Robert Oppenheimer
After overseeing the construction of the Pentagon, General Leslie R. Groves was appointed chief of the top-secret Manhattan Engineering District and immediately began assembling his team. According to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Web site, “His most important appointment, as well as his most controversial, was J. Robert Oppenheimer.”
Source: Los Alamos National Laboratory
J. Robert Oppenheimer was appointed scientific director of the Manhattan Project in June 1942. He oversaw the construction of the Los Alamos laboratories and helped to gather together a team of physicists to build the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer dubbed the first detonation the “Trinity” Test, inspired by the poems of John Donne. The Atomic Archive offers a recap of the life of the “‘father’ of the atomic bomb.”
Source: Atomic Archive
Historical Context: ‘The United States in World War II’
FindingDulcinea’s guide to U.S. History offers a comprehensive look at U.S. involvement in World War II. Learn how World War II transformed the U.S. from a country mainly concerned with its own problems to a nation involved in the affairs of the entire world.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: ‘Einstein’s Letter’
The Atomic Heritage Foundation presents the letter that Einstein wrote to Franklin D. Roosevelt, generally regarded as the first step in the creation of the Manhattan Project. Einstein wrote that research had made it possible “to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated.” Worried that Germany was already pursuing this end for use as a bomb, Einstein urged President Roosevelt to do the same.
Source: The Atomic Heritage Foundation
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