In early 1945, even scientists who had developed the atomic bombs did not know exactly what effects the new miracle weapon they created would have. During the first nuclear test – the so-called Trinity experiment – participants were not even sure that the detonationn would be successful.
However, on July 16, 1945, an implosion-type plutonium bomb called Gadget was successfully put into operation and the first nuclear explosion in the world was carried out. The leader of the experiment, Robert Oppenheimer, later described the event as follows: “We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita; ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.‘ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”
The bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Little Boy.
The bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Fat Man.
View in Hiroshima after the nuclear attack. In the middle, the remnants of the Industrial Promotion Hall.
Melted coins fused together, from Hiroshima.
Melted rosary from Nagasaki.
Roof tile with surface melted next to the fitting, from Hiroshima.
