Smithsonian Channel Documentaries
A-Bombs Over Nevada
2019 • E15 Jun 27, 2019 60m
The dropping of "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" on Japan marked the end of World War II and the dawn of the Atomic Age. The race against the Soviet Union to build a bigger, better bomb was on. The U.S. put their new nukes to the test on a desolate stretch of desert just 65 miles away from Las Vegas, and people traveled from all over the country to witness the detonations. This is the story of the nation's grand atomic experiment and the bizarre atomic subculture that spawned beauty queens, new hairdos, and radioactive superheroes.