5 The Gadget
Photo credit: US Government
The atomic bombs that went off over Hiroshima and Nagasaki are sometimes said to be the first nuclear weapons. Actually, the two bombs weren’t the first—they were just the first nuclear weapons deployed to kill and destroy. The first atomic bomb ever made was the Gadget (photograph above). It was completed and tested weeks before two other atomic bombs went off over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The test, called Trinity, was carried out at the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, known today as White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico. Also See: Bootylicious: Top 20 celebs with the biggest & sexiest butts in the world – You need to see #1 (+Photos)
The bomb was placed on a forest service watchtower 30 meters (100 ft) tall. Three bunkers were constructed 9,000 meters (29,000 ft) away from the tower so that the impending explosion could be observed. In the early hours of July 16, 1945, the Gadget went off. The resulting explosion sent shock waves through the desert, vaporizing the tower and producing a gigantic mushroom cloud 12,000 meters (40,000 ft) high. It produced a flash brighter than 10 Suns. The flash was so bright that it was seen in all of New Mexico and parts of Arizona, Texas, and Mexico. The heat produced was so severe that observers 16 kilometers (10 mi) away compared it to standing in front ofa “roaring” fireplace.
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