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Manhattan Project: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As Atomic Research Laboratory
Date 1942 - 1945

Did You Know?

  • Upon hearing of the devastation in Hiroshima Einstein stated, "Woe is me".
  • In the aftermath of the bombings, scientists at the University of Chicago created an allegorical Doomsday Clock symbolizing the danger of manmade threats to humanity.
  • The plutonium-based bomb dropped on Nagasaki was named "Fat Man" and the uranium-based bomb was named "Little Boy".
  • The Manhattan Project led to increased research in ionizing radiation and eventually cancer treatment.

Photos and Videos

Atomic bomb
Leslie Groves
Infographic timeline of the Manhattan Project set against a background of an atomic bomb explosion, detailing major scientific discoveries, project milestones, bomb test and deployment dates, and key locations such as Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Hanford, from the 1930s through the end of World War II.
Diagram showing three nuclear weapon designs: a gun-assembly fission bomb with uranium-235 and a conventional explosive, an implosion fission bomb with a plutonium-239 core surrounded by explosive lenses, and a boosted-fission bomb with a plutonium core, uranium tamper, and fusion fuel, all labeled with their main components inside cutaway metal casings.
First self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction
Infographic titled The First Atomic Bombs, showing key facts about the first atomic bomb test in New Mexico and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during World War II. Includes diagrams of bomb mechanisms, a map of Japan with target cities, and illustrations of the Little Boy and Fat Man bombs, along with details on deployment, explosive yield, and estimated casualties.
J. Robert Oppenheimer
J. Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie R. Groves
Atomic bomb: first test
Aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Split image showing Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer at a chalkboard on the left and actor Cillian Murphy portraying Oppenheimer with a cigarette and hat on the right.
What was the Manhattan Project?
Watch U.S. B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay decimate Hiroshima with a nuclear bomb in the Pacific War
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