atomic bomb

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The true story of Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

Fission of a uranium nucleus by a neutron

Manhattan Project interactive timeline

What is the difference between nuclear fission and fusion?

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima

Observe how radiation from atomic bombs and nuclear disasters remains a major environmental concern

J. Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie R. Groves

For Students

Atomic bomb: first test

atomic bomb summary

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Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima Infographic. Japan. United States. World War II

Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima: Infographic

Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki Infographic. Japan. United States. World War II

Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki: Infographic

J. Robert Oppenheimer (L) & Gen. Leslie R. Groves at ground zero examine remains of a base of the steel test tower at the Trinity Test site of a nuclear bomb; as part of the Manhattan Project in New Mexico, Sep. 1945. Los Alamos National Laboratory

Timeline of the Manhattan Project

Figure 13: A Maxim machine gun, belt-fed and water-cooled, operated by German infantrymen, World War I.

7 Deadliest Weapons in History

Communism - mosaic hammer and sickle with star on the Pavilion of Ukraine at the All Russia Exhibition Centre (also known as VDNKh) in Moscow. Communist symbol of the former Soviet Union. USSR

Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?

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Lusitania sinking, illustration from The War of the Nations (New York), December 31, 1919. World War I, WWI. This image is one of three on the page. (See source file for the other two.)

7 of the World’s Deadliest Shipwrecks

Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society

12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”

Close-up of tobacco plants in Ontario, Canada. Tobacco, Nicotiana, cured leaves used after processing in various ways for smoking, snuffing, chewing, and extracting of nicotine.

7 of the World’s Deadliest Plants

United States electoral college map showing number of electoral votes by state.

How Does the Electoral College Work?

Emperor penguins in Antarctica (arctic animal; arctic bird; penguin)

How Do Penguins Tell Each Other Apart?

cloning. First cloned cat. First cloned companion animal. CC (copy cat) female domestic shorthair cat (b. Dec. 22, 2001) photo Jan. 18, 2002. Cloned at Texas A&M Univ. College of Vet. Med. & Biomedical Sciences. Reproductive cloning genetics DNA cc cat

CC, The First Cloned Cat

Close-up of ostriches (Struthio camelus) necks and heads; location unknown.

6 of the World's Most Dangerous Birds

atomic bomb: Facts & Related Content

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Facts

Also Known As	atom bomb • fission bomb

Photos and Videos

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima

J. Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie R. Groves

Discover more about the first atomic bombs

Discover the facts about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II

Hiroshima, Japan, after the atomic bomb strike

Hiroshima, Japan: August 1945

World War II: total destruction of Hiroshima, Japan

The true story of Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb

Fission of a uranium nucleus by a neutron

What is the difference between nuclear fission and fusion?

Observe how radiation from atomic bombs and nuclear disasters remains a major environmental concern

Watch U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay decimate Hiroshima with a nuclear bomb in the Pacific War

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gun-assembly fission bomb atom thermonuclear bomb neutron bomb

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Key People

Vannevar Bush with Differential Analyzer

Vannevar Bush

American engineer

Igor Vasilyevich Kurchatov

Soviet physicist

Theodore Hall

American-born physicist and spy

Luis Alvarez

Luis Alvarez

American physicist

Klaus Fuchs

German physicist and spy

Karl Taylor Compton

American physicist

William Penney, Baron Penney

British physicist

Yves-André Rocard

French mathematician and physicist

J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer

American physicist

Abdul Qadeer Khan

Abdul Qadeer Khan

Pakistani scientist

Peierls, Sir Rudolf Ernst; Dirac, P.A.M.; Pauli, Wolfgang

Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls

British physicist

Stanislaw Ulam

American scientist

Elda Emma Anderson

American physicist

William Penney

British scientist

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Figure 13: A Maxim machine gun, belt-fed and water-cooled, operated by German infantrymen, World War I.

7 Deadliest Weapons in History