ATOMIC BOMB

  • U.S. ATOMIC BOMB PROJECT TAKES OFF

    ByNorm Haskett Reading Time: 6 minutes

    Chicago, Illinois • December 2, 1942 In November 1942 the world’s first artifi­cial nuclear reactor was assem­bled piece­meal below the bleachers of an un­used and un­heated double racquet­ball (squash) court at the Uni­ver­sity of Chicago’s Amos Alonzo Stagg Field. The impe­tus for building an Amer­i­can nuclear reactor, which con­sisted (mostly) of a huge pile of…

  • SECOND U.S. A-BOMB LEVELS NAGASAKI

    ByNorm Haskett Reading Time: 9 minutes

    509th Composite Group HQ, Tinian, Mariana Islands • August 9, 1945 Despite the shockwaves that Hiroshima’s destruction on August 6, 1945, sent through Imperial circles, Japan’s govern­ment refused to agree to an uncon­di­tional sur­render; their leaders insisted on precon­ditions, chief among them pro­tecting the “pre­ro­ga­tives” of Emperor Hirohito as Japan’s “sovereign ruler.” (Had there been no Japa­nese…