"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." - Franklin D. Roosevelt in Declaration of War Speech |
On December 8th, 1941, the United States, led by President F.D.Roosevelt, officially entered World War II after the Japanese bombed Hawaii. Roosevelt had been informed by Albert Einstein, of the potential threats of Germans using uranium to create a weapon of mass destruction. On October 9th, 1941, Roosevelt ordered the Manhattan Engineering District to create an atomic bomb to oppose German threats. Colonel Leslie Groves was placed in charge of this development and Robert Oppenheimer was named the Scientific Director. Thus, the Manhattan Project was born.
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However, many people do not know that crucial research for the creation of the atomic bomb began nine years earlier. In 1932, British physicists John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton split the atom. Later, Italian physicist, Enrico Fermi, discovered nuclear fission, the process of releasing energy by splitting the atom. This research was not yet known by the president until he was informed in a letter sent by Leo Szilard and Albert Einstein. This letter stated the concern of the use of uranium for a bomb. After several meetings and conferences, Roosevelt allowed the project to continue to create this weapon before Nazi Germany did.
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The Manhattan Project was carried out in extreme secrecy. In fact, it was so secret, the vice president at the time, Harry S. Truman, did not know of the project until Roosevelt died and he took over the presidency. There were forty research sites and nearly 150,000 scientists and physicists involved in researching and constructing the bomb. The most important sites were, Hanford Site for plutonium, Oak Ridge, Tennessee for uranium, and Los Alamos National Laboratory which was responsible for the research and development of the bomb. At the time, the Manhattan Project cost United States 2 billion USD which is about 25 billion USD today.
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When Harry S. Truman took over the presidency in 1945, Japan was the main target of the United States. Truman offered Japan to surrender unconditionally. This offer was rejected and Truman made the decision to bomb Japan regardless of the arguments posed against him.
Three bombs were created. A plutonium test bomb, a uranium bomb, and a plutonium war bomb. The test bomb was launched in New Mexico. This was called the Trinity Test. The uranium bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, killing 100,000 people. The second plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945, killing 40,000 people. This devastation led to Japan's surrender in the war.
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