The dawn of the "Atomic Age" was announced on August 6, 1945, when the "Little Boy" uranium bomb was detonated over Hiroshima. The world responded with shock, horror, and wonder to the revelation of the tremendous secret effort of the Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb. Just over four years later, with the announcement of the detonation of the Soviet Union's first nuclear device, the Atomic Age was cemented as an Age of Anxiety as the Cold War nuclear arms race began.

This site gathers online resources devoted to the early history (through 1962) of nuclear weapons in the United States, as well as selected political, social, and cultural ramifications of "the Bomb." However, certain important topics in the history of "Nuclear America" are omitted. Sites dealing with non-military uses of the atom (such as nuclear energy) or with international nuclear history (such as arms treaties) are beyond the scope of this guide. In addition, some essential topics (such as anti-nuclear movements, nuclear experimentation, and fear of fallout) are simply not well-represented on the Web and thus are not represented in this guide.

The first thermonuclear (hydrogen-bomb) explosion took place during the MIKE test on November 1, 1952 at Eniwetok Atoll in the South Pacific. (Reproduced from Atomicarchive.com.)