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Los Alamos is chosen as a location
Los Alamos, NM is chosen for the location of one of the bomb laboratories, nicknames Project Y, and Robert Oppenheimer is placed as the laboratory director there. -
German physicists discover how to split a Uranium atom
-This discovery sent the allied powers into a panic as the possibility opened up of Germany using atomic weapons against other countries.
-This caused the US to prioritize its atomic research and prompted Einstein to suggest creating a committee to research nuclear power and weapons -
Roosevelt approves production of an atomic bomb
This event was the official start of the Manhattan project. Before, the project had been only an idea, but after Roosevelt approved it, it became a reality. -
Period: to
The Span of the Manhattan Project
A secret military project created to produce the first atomic weapons
-The directors were Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie Grove
-The project cost over $2.2 billion and involved such scientists as Einstein and Fermi
The project would eventually be responsible for creating the atomic bombs that would be dropped on Japan during WW2
-The project would eventually disband and become of the US Atomic Energy commission -
Oak Ridge is chosen as a location
Oak Ridge, Tennessee is selected as one of the locations for the project for the pilot production plant. -
First controlled nuclear chain reaction
Fermi, through intense research and trials, leads scientists to produce the first controlled nuclear chain reaction. -
Hanford is chosen as a location
Hanford, Washington is selected as another key location for the project for the plutonium production facilities. Three reactors would eventually be built in Hanford. -
First Atomic Bomb Test
Robert Oppenheimer led the first controlled detonation of the atomic bomb at Trinity site near Alamogordo, TX. -
The First Atomic Bomb is Dropped
On this date, the American plane, the Enola Gay, dropped the first bomb, nicknamed Little Boy, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.In an instant, 70,000 Japanese citizens were vaporized, and a legacy of destruction remained. -
The Second Dropping of the Atomic Bomb
The second bomb, nicknamed Fat Man, is dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. -
Japan surrenders to the US
Although much debate surrounds whether or not the atomic bombs really shortened WW2, or whether they were ethical methods of war, atomic bombs still led to the greatly hastened surrender of Japan. The lasting radiation and enormous death toll, however, would remain there until well into the future. -
The Manhattan Project Ends
The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 decided that the Manhattan project would no longer be a separate entity and would instead be transferred to be under the US Atomic Energy Commission.
