It's hard to imagine that between the 1940s and 1970s, all of the world's major superpowers were figuring out how to build a weapon of mass destruction powerful enough to wipe humanity off of the map. And when you build weapons, you have to test them... on yourself.
Yes, the United States, Russia, and China all repeatedly nuked themselves in an attempt to uncover the best way to nuke each other. Here are 31 photos from the golden age of nuclear testing, and its concerning aftermath.
1
Bikini Atoll nuclear test, 1946.
3
Bikini Atoll’s bomb was named "The Baker."
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Photographers and camera equipment lined up in preparation for a nuclear test at Bikini Atoll, 1946.
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Huge craters scar the Nevada desert from nuclear tests in the 1950’s and later years.
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In 1988, an F-4 Phantom was fired into a concrete wall at 500mph on a rocket sled, to test the durability of these structures for nuclear power plant construction.
8
Tsar Bomba, 1961. The most powerful bomb ever created and tested. More than three times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
11
Blimp crashes due to nuclear test in Nevada, 1957.
12
1953 Las Vegas, NV. Swimming with nuclear testing in the distance.
13
Tide laundry detergent used to decontaminate protective suits. Operation Castle, Bikini Atoll, 1954.
14
Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands: The detonation of an 11-megaton thermonuclear bomb on 26 March 1954. Operation Castle, ROMEO Event.
15
Photo taken over one millionth of a second, from two miles away, during US testing of a nuclear blast, 1945.
16
USS Independence In San Francisco after a nuclear bomb test, Jan 1951.
17
1950s 'Nuclear Tourism,' looking at a bomb test crater near Las Vegas.
18
B-57B observing a nuclear test during Operation Redwing, Bikini Atoll, 12 July 1958.
19
A mother and her son watch a nuclear bomb testing in Nevada, 1953.
20
Nuclear test site, Nevada.
21
The world enters the nuclear age. Trinity test fireball, 0.044 seconds after detonation. July 16, 1945.
22
The Priscilla Nuclear Test detonation during Operation Plumbbob. A series of nuclear tests conducted between May 28 and October 7, 1957.
23
A November 1951 nuclear test at Nevada test site, Operation Buster–Jangle "Dog."
24
A 15 kiloton nuclear weapon detonates about 10 km from the cannon it was fired from, Nevada Test Site, May 1953. The only nuclear weapon to be shot instead of dropped.
25
An example of a deep water nuclear explosion test by US military, 1958.
26
The Fremont Hotel in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada with a nuclear test mushroom cloud in the background on June 24, 1957.
27
Project 596 China's first nuclear test, 1964. Soldiers were instructed to continue drills while the bomb went off. Many died from radiation.
