The Brief, Essential History of the Atomic Bomb - HISTORY

Explore the top-secret American project to build the world's first atomic bomb.

FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

RELATED CONTENT

President Harry Truman orders the Enola Gay to drop the atom bomb on Hiroshima, Cy Young joined major league baseball, the first woman swims the English Channel, and Jamaican independence is declared in This Day in History video. The date is August 6th. The atom bomb was also dropped on Nagasaki which helped end World War II when Japan surrendered.

History Shorts: How the Atomic Bomb Was Used in WWII

The K-25 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was built to enrich uranium for the atomic bomb.

History takes a closer look at one of the greatest minds the world has ever seen. Find out what you have always wanted to know about Albert Einstein.

In a This Day in History video, learn that on July 16, 1945, the United States conducted the first atomic bomb test in the New Mexican desert. The test was the culmination of three years of secret planning under the codename, The Manhattan Project. Scientists, soldiers, and officers assembled the observation huts, some as far as 10 miles away from ground zero. There was an intense flash of light, and then the a-bomb produced a fireball that expanded nearly 2,000 feet in two seconds; it boiled up into a mushroom cloud nearly six miles high.

In August 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What happened to people on the fringes of the blasts?

CLOSE

CLOSE

CLOSE

CLOSE