First Atomic Bomb Tested

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)
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The first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945 in the New Mexico desert. The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. The second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. For more information on the physics see our entry on the Hydrogen Bomb.

The first steps towards the development of the bomb were taken by physicists in the summer of 1939 when Albert Einstein was encouraged to make President Roosevelt aware of the potential of nuclear fission devices. Early work on the device began in February 1940 and increased exponentially when the US entered the war in December 1941. From June 1942 the development work was collected under the name “the Manhattan project” (after Columbia University, Manhattan, were much of the original work was done).

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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "First Atomic Bomb Tested". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 March 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1530, accessed 28 March 2024.]

1530 First Atomic Bomb Tested 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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