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SOVIET UNION ATOMIC BOMB TEST
In 1951, Soviet dog Smelaya ran away before her rocket launch; after she returned, she flew safely with MalyshkaDuring the initial experiments in space exploration, Soviet engineers evaluated dogs for their survival skills during launch. Female dogs w...
In 1951, Soviet space dog Bobik escaped before launch; scientists found a stray near the canteen, named her ZIB, and sent her 100 km up before a safe returnA stray dog known as ZIB unexpectedly filled in for a canine that went missing just before a Soviet rocket launch. With no training at all,...
In 1949, Soviet Union detonated its first atom bomb, ending U.S. monopoly on atomic weapons, more than seven decades later United States and Russia together hold over 80 per cent of world's nuclear arms stockpileSoviet Union’s first atomic bomb test transformed the international security landscape. On August 29, 1949, the world entered a new stage i...
In 1961, NASA sent Ham the chimpanzee 157 miles above Earth to test whether a primate could work in space; he completed a 16-minute flight and returned safelyChimpanzee Ham made history in 1961 when he soared into space aboard a Mercury-Redstone rocket. His mission aimed to assess the capabilitie...
In 1994, the space shuttle Discovery held a Wake Shield disk behind it while still attached to its robot arm; the facility produced 5 good semiconductor filmsIn 1994, the space shuttle Discovery transported the Wake Shield Facility, designed to establish an ultra-clean vacuum environment. This gr...
In 1960, two dogs orbited Earth on Sputnik 5. A year later, one of their puppies reached the White House as a surprise gift for US first lady Jacqueline KennedyTwo Soviet dogs, Belka and Strelka, orbited Earth and returned safely. Strelka later had puppies, and one was gifted to the Kennedys. This ...
In 1968, two Russian steppe tortoises travelled around the Moon before humans did. They survived a punishing 20G force while returning to EarthIn a remarkable journey, two Russian steppe tortoises embarked on a mission aboard Zond 5, orbiting the Moon in September 1968. This pionee...
In 1953, Britain detonated an atomic bomb in Australia, sending a mysterious black mist across the desert before a secret programme began testing children’s bones for radiationDuring the Cold War, Britain undertook covert nuclear tests in Australia, leading to hazardous radioactive fallout termed the Black Mist th...
In the 1950s, U.S. nuclear tests were conducted at Bikini and Enewetak; decades later, Guam corals preserved carbon-14 spikes linked to tests in 1954, 1956, and 1958Guam’s coral reefs act as natural historians, chronicling chemical footprints of Cold War-era nuclear tests. Distinct radiocarbon spikes fr...
In 1997, America's last bismuth refinery shut down. 29 years later, the metal is crucial to a 240-MW nuclear reactor whose coolant supply is 82% ChineseA proposed American nuclear reactor, EAGL-1, will use liquid lead-bismuth coolant. China currently dominates global refined bismuth product...
In 1968, two Afghan tortoises who beat humans to the Moon lost 10% of their weight - They flew around the moon on Soviet Zond 5 and returned alive 3 months before Apollo 8In September 1968, two tortoises made history as the first animals to orbit the Moon and safely return to Earth aboard the Soviet Zond 5 sp...
In 1975, Soviet Union sent a cannon to space and tested it from Salyut 3 station, just six months before US and Soviet astronauts met in orbit for the Apollo-Soyuz mission during the Cold WarIn January 1975, the Soviet Union fired a 23mm cannon from its Salyut 3 military space station as a test of its orbital defence system. The...
In 1945, number of Japanese people survived World War 2 U.S. nuclear bombings of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, after 81 long years Nobel Peace Prize winning group of survivors fears worst. Here's whyNew START was signed in 2010 by U.S. President Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, an ally of Vladimir Putin who served a single term as Rus...
465 gold bars worth $716 million sank with a WWII ship in Arctic Ocean. 40 Years later, a small team went looking for lost fortune; you won't believe what happened nextA British warship carrying Soviet gold sank in the Barents Sea during World War Two. Decades later, a determined diver located the wreck us...
In 1945, Hiroshima’s atomic blast vaporized metal, glass, soil and water; 81 years later, scientists studying the cooled material found strange glass spheres that may preserve a never-before-seen alloyAfter decades of 1945 Hiroshima atomic bombing, scientists studying tiny glass particles found around Hiroshima Bay have identified evidenc...
Nuclear material found in Syria will remain in the country, minister saysSyrian authorities confirmed nuclear material found is not dangerous and will remain in custody. The International Atomic Energy Agency chi...
Hungary’s forgotten Soviet city still stands near Lake Balaton: The story of Szentkirályszabadja and its sudden Cold War disappearanceSzentkirályszabadja, once a bustling Soviet military town, now stands quietly near Lake Balaton, predominantly uninhabited. During the Cold...
A Latvian astronomer and his wife drove 190 miles to a secret Soviet ghost town in 1994; found a 600-ton telescope the Russians had poured acid on - adapted the Cold War machine built to spy on the West and listen to the starsAfter the retreat of Russian forces from Latvia, a concealed Soviet-era radio telescope came to light. Astronomer Juris Zhagars dedicated h...
Gulag prisoners built this town during WW2, it grew into a USSR mining centre of over 10,000 people; before the end of the Soviet era brought its decline in 1996Once a vibrant Soviet town dedicated to coal mining during World War II, Kadykchan was home to a lively community complete with schools and...
Hiroshima 1945: Why the atomic explosion that transformed war, peace and global power still matters 80 years laterEight decades after the Hiroshima atomic bombing, the event remains a defining moment. The bombings accelerated World War II's end and init...