Transcript
Lindsey Graham (0:00)
There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free. Listen with Wondry plus in the Wondery app as a member of Noiser plus at noiser.com or in Apple Podcasts. Or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoHistory.com It's 5:30am on July 16, 1945, at the Alamogordo Bombing Range in rural New Mexico. 41 year old Dr. Robert Oppenheimer strikes a match, lights a cigarette and peers out at the pale sky from behind the concrete walls of a bunker. Even though it's early, Robert and dozens of fellow scientists have been in position for hours. Robert is nervous, smoking cigarette after cigarette as he waits for a break in the weather. Persistent rain has threatened to delay the culmination of years of work, but the clouds have finally cleared and a little over five miles away, the first ever atomic bomb is about to explode. America has been embroiled in World War II for more than three years. Nazi Germany surrendered two months ago, but their Japanese allies continue the fight. So if this atomic bomb works, many in the US Government believe it could finally bring Japanese resistance to an end. Robert puts out his cigarette and checks his pocket watch as the last few seconds tick down before detonation. Through a narrow slit in the bunker wall, he watches the horizon. Then, as the countdown reaches zero, a silent bright flash signals that the bomb has been detonated. After a few seconds, a fiery ball swells into the sky and then the sound of the explosion hits, growing louder and louder like a storm rolling in. The scientists and observers in bunker applaud and shake hands. They've been working on the bomb for years and they're relieved that the test seems to have been a success. But the jovial atmosphere doesn't last long. As a giant mushroom shaped cloud rises into the skies above the test site, the mood in the bunker takes on a more somber tone. The full magnitude of what they've done is sinking in because Robert's team has just unleashed a devastating new weapon on the world. For the first time in history, humanity has the means to destroy itself. A few weeks later, atomic bombs are dropped on two Japanese cities, and World War II finally comes to an end. Although Robert Oppenheimer's research brings one conflict to a conclusion, he will worry about the threat of another, far more deadly one breaking out. His concerns will eventually cost Dr. Oppenheimer his reputation and his career, but he will forever be known as the father of the atomic bomb. After the first nuclear explosion shattered the morning peace of New Mexico, on July 16, 1945.
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