Intl. Notebook

October 16 2019

YEAR OF THE DRAGON

China figures out how to kiloton of people.

This photo shows the first Chinese nuclear device, detonated today at Lop Nur in 1964. The U.S., Russia, France, and England were already members of the worst club ever devised—the nuclear club, the one aliens will write into the galactic history books as proof of humanity’s inferior intelligence. China’s tower mounted bomb was about the size of the U.S. bomb dropped on Hiroshima, a mere balloon pop. For the sake of comparison, the most powerful nuke ever detonated exploded with the power of 57 million tons of TNT, more than 1,500 times the destructive power of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs combined. Put another way, it was ten times more powerful than all the munitions expended during World War II. Put still a third way, its shockwave circled the entire Earth three times. China very well might build a bomb like that too one day. Just to be like the cool kids. See another image of the above test here.

China, Hiroshima, Lop Nur, nukes

Intl. Notebook

October 10 2012

NUCLEAR FRONTIER

If this is the new Earth we’ll just stick with the old one.

Today in 1957 in the Soviet Union, this photo was shot of an underwater nuclear detonation at the Novaya Zemlya Test Site, located on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Novaya Zemlya means “new earth” in Russian, but might as well mean “nuclear earth,” considering 224 tests were conducted on the islands amounting to 265 megatons of TNT. To put that in perspective, all the explosives used during World War II, including the two nuclear bombs the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, amounted to only two megatons.

Soviet Union, Russia, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Novaya Zemlya, World War II, nukes

Intl. Notebook

August 6 2010

IF MORNING EVER COMES

Above, a photo of the mushroom cloud generated by Little Boy, the first nuclear weapon ever used on humans, at Hiroshima, Japan, in the final days of World War II, around 8 a.m. today in 1945.

Japan, Hiroshima, World War II, nukes

Intl. Notebook

February 19 2010

NAGASAKI LEAFLET

Rare piece of WWII memorabilia.

I thought this might be up your alley, since you post nuclear explosions and cold war stuff. It’s a leaflet dropped on Nagasaki during WWII. I believe we had already hit Hiroshima at this point, and this leaflet is warning the people of Nagasaki that they’re next and had better get out of the city. I thought this might be valuable, but then I saw that a lot of websites had some. And I even saw one on Ebay. I imagine U.S. personnel must have kept these as souvenirs, because I doubt any survived from Nagasaki. Interesting thought. Anyway, I thought you might find this interesting. Nice website.

Submitted by D. Callil

Thanks, D. These are an awesome share. Your scans were huge, but the horizontal orientation of the art in our narrow column crunched the images down pretty small. So, we’ve reposted these vertically for people who want to get a slightly better look. Just drag or save to your desktop and rotate the images.

Japan, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, nukes

Intl. Notebook

August 6 2009

NO DIRECTION HOME

Abandon hope all ye who enter here.

These photos show the Japanese city of Hiroshima, looking in two directions, after the detonation of the American atomic bomb codenamed Little Boy, dropped sixty-four years ago today.

Japan, Hiroshima, nukes

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

October 15

1945—Laval Executed

Pierre Laval, who was the premier of Vichy, France, which had collaborated with the Nazis during World War II, is shot by a firing squad for treason. In subsequent years it emerges that Laval may have considered himself a patriot whose goal was to publicly submit to the Germans while doing everything possible behind the scenes to thwart them. In at least one respect he may have succeeded: fifty percent of French Jews survived the war, whereas in other territories about ninety percent perished.

October 15

1966—Black Panthers Form

In the U.S., in Oakland, California, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale form the Black Panther political party. The Panthers are active in American politics throughout the 1960s and 1970s, but eventually legal troubles combined with a schism over the direction of the party lead to its dissolution.

October 14

1962—Cuban Missile Crisis Begins

A U-2 spy plane flight over the island of Cuba produces photographs of Soviet nuclear missiles being installed. Though American missiles have been installed near Russia, the U.S. decides that no such weapons will be tolerated in Cuba. The resultant standoff brings the U.S. and the Soviet Union to the brink of war. The crisis finally ends with a secret deal in which the U.S. removes its missiles from Turkey in exchange for the Soviets removing the Cuban weapons.

October 13

1970—Angela Davis Arrested

After two months of evading police and federal authorities, Angela Davis is arrested in New York City by the FBI. She had been sought in connection with a kidnapping and murder because one of the guns used in the crime had been bought under her name. But after a trial a jury agreed that owning the weapon did not automatically make her complicit in the crimes.

October 12

1978—Sid Vicious Arrested for Murder

Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious is arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is found in their room at New York City’s Chelsea Hotel. Vicious and Spungen had a famously stormy relationship, but Vicious proclaims he is innocent. He is released on bail and dies of a heroin overdose before a trial takes place.

October 12

1979—Adams Publishes First Hitchhiker's Book

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in a series, is published by Douglas Adams. The novels follow on the heels of the tremendously successful British television series of the same name.