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🗓️ 16 July 2024
⏱️ 21 minutes
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July 16, 1945. An atomic bomb is detonated in New Mexico, marking success in the Manhattan Project.
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0:00.0 | There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad-free. |
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0:06.0 | As a member of NoisorPlus at noisor.com or in Apple Podcasts, |
0:10.6 | or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoH30 a.m. on July 16th, 1945, at the Alamigordo bombing range in rural New Mexico. |
0:33.9 | 41-year-old Dr. Robert Oppenheimer strikes a match, lights a cigarette, and peers out at the pale sky from behind the concrete walls of a bunker. |
0:42.7 | Even though it's early, Robert and dozens of fellow scientists have been in position for hours. |
0:47.9 | Robert is nervous, smoking cigarette after cigarette as he waits for a break in the weather. |
0:53.3 | Persistent rain has threatened to delay the |
0:55.4 | culmination of years of work, but the clouds have finally cleared, and a little over five miles away, |
1:01.6 | the first ever atomic bomb is about to explode. America has been embroiled in World War II |
1:08.3 | for more than three years. Nazi Germany surrendered two months ago, |
1:12.5 | but their Japanese allies continue the fight. |
1:15.6 | So if this atomic bomb works, |
1:17.7 | many in the U.S. government believe it could finally bring Japanese resistance to an end. |
1:23.3 | Robert puts out his cigarette and checks his pocket watch |
1:26.2 | as the last few seconds ticked down before detonation. |
1:29.5 | Through a narrow slit in the bunker wall, he watches the horizon. |
1:33.7 | Then, as the countdown reaches zero, a silent, bright flash signals that the bomb has been detonated. |
1:40.3 | After a few seconds, a fiery ball swells into the sky. |
1:45.0 | And then the sound of the explosion hits, growing louder and louder, like a storm rolling in. |
1:52.0 | The scientists and observers in the bunker applaud and shake hands. |
1:56.4 | They've been working on the bomb for years, and they're relieved that the test seems to have been a success. |
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