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Timeline of the Nuclear Age
Events of the...
- 1950
- January 27 - Klaus Fuchs confesses that he gave atomic secrets to the Soviets while working at the Manhattan Project.
- January 31 - President Truman announces the decision to proceed with development of the hydrogen bomb.
- 1951
- January 27 - The first nuclear test occurs at the Nevada Test Site.
- June - First British nuclear reactor goes critical.
- Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted and sentenced to death for passing information on atomic weapons to the U.S.S.R.
- 1952
- September - A second U.S. nuclear weapons laboratory is established in Livermore, California.
- October 3 - First British atomic bomb, "Hurricane," was tested at Monte Bello Islands, Australia, with a yield of 25 kilotons.
- October 31 - U.S. explodes first thermonuclear or fusion device, "Mike," at Eniwetok Atoll. It had a yield of 10.4 megatons.
- 1953
- August 12 - First Soviet layer cake design bomb explods on a tower in Siberia. It was not a "true" hydrogen bomb.
- 1954
- March 1 - The first deliverable hydrogen bomb design is tested at Bikini Atoll. "BRAVO" has a yield of 14.8 megatons. Radioactive fallout affects local islanders and a nearby fishing boat.
- April 12 to May 6 - Hearings regarding Oppenheimer's loyalty cause him to lose his security clearance.
- September 30 - The USS Nautilus, the first American nuclear powered submarine, is launched.
- 1955
- The U.S.S.R. deploys two strategic bombers, Bear and Bison.
- The United Kingdom announces the decision to develop thermonuclear weapons.
- November 22 - The first true fusion device test is acheived by the Soviet Union; it has a yield of 1.6 megatons. The development is lead by Andrei Sakharov.
- 1957
- May 15 - First British H-bomb exploded at Christmas Island. The yield was between 200 - 300 kilotons. It was less than expected.
- July 29 - The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency is created. The agency inspects nuclear reactors and plants to ensure they are being run for peaceful purposes.
- August 26 - The Soviet Union announces the successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
- September 19 - First underground nuclear test, "Rainier," occurs at the Nevada Test Site. It had a yield of 1.7 kilotons.
- November 8 - Britain's first truly successful thermonuclear bomb test. The bomb had a yield of 1.8 megatons.
- October - Fire destroys the core of a reactor at Britain's Windscale nuclear complex, sending clouds of radioactivity into the atmosphere.
- 1958
- July 2 - President Eisenhower signs amendments to the 1954 U.S. Atomic Energy Act which opened the way to a bilateral agreement between Britain and America on nuclear weapon design information.
- November 1958 to September 1961 - U.S., U.K., and U.S.S.R. observe an informal moratorium on nuclear tests.
- 1959
- June 9 - The first U.S. Polaris nuclear missile-capable submarine enters into service.
- October 31 - The U.S. deploys the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Atlas D.
