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

The environmental effects of nuclear radiation

J. Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie R. Groves

For Students

Atomic bomb: first test

atomic bomb summary

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

Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki: Infographic

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

7 Deadliest Weapons in History

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History of Technology Timeline

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

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

Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima: Infographic

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Demystified - Do Lemmings Really Commit Mass Suicide? illustration

Do Lemmings Really Commit Mass Suicide?

Lake Mead (the impounded Colorado River) at the Hoover Dam. The light-coloured band of rock above the shoreline shows the decrease in water level in the first few years of the 21st century.

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7 Puzzling Plane Disappearances

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

An ancient egyptian hieroglyphic painted carving showing the falcon headed god Horus seated on a throne and holding a golden fly whisk. Before him are the Pharoah Seti and the goddess Isis. Interior wall of the temple to Osiris at Abydos, Egypt.

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atomic bomb: Facts & Related Content

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Miss Atomic Bomb: The woman, the mystery and the man who solved it • May 31, 2025, 1:54 PM ET (AP)

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?

The environmental effects of nuclear radiation

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

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Topics

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

William Penney

British scientist

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

List

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

7 Deadliest Weapons in History