In 1945 the first atomic weapon is tested in New Mexico, United States.
Since the time of the ancient Greeks it was believed that small particles known as atoms made up all matter. However after several experiment with cathode rays, British Physicist Joseph J. Thomson, provided evidence for the first sub-atomic particle, the electron, on the 30th of April 1897. Thomson was also a gifted teacher with many of his students becoming great physicists. One such student was New Zealand born, Ernest Rutherford who theorised the nucleus of an atom went on to prove the existence of the Proton (and believed to have been the first to “split the atom”) in 1917. Two more of Thomson’s famous students were American Physicist, Julius Robert Oppenheimer and Danish Physicist Niels Henrik David Bohr.
Francis Perrin was one of a French group of scientist that were working on nuclear chain reactions and he discovered that “Heavy Water” of H30 would make the perfect moderator needed to weaponise such reactions. The only known source of “Heavy Water” was found at the hydro-electric dam in Norway. When the French group contacted Norway to obtain the H30 they discovered that Germany had already purchased some in large quantities. The French Government explained the possible use of H30 and consequently all stockpiles were given to France. When France was invaded by Germany the stockpiles were then shipped to Britain for safety.
Many physicists had growing concerns that Germany’s experiments into nuclear reactions could culminate into powerful weapons that Hitler would not hesitate to use. Some of these physicists, including Albert Einstein had contacted the US President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt with their concerns and requested that the US begin research into the field themselves. Although the US was neutral at the time it was widely believed that if Germany could produce such a weapon without comparison they would have power over the entire world. British and Canadian scientists were working on the problem (with “Project Tube Alloys”) but with pre-occupations of fighting the war they had no resources for such a huge project. Roosevelt initially took some convincing but eventually he signed the Executive Order 8807 on the 28th of June 1941 and this gave the order for the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), part of which would later become the “Manhattan Project”. The British “Tube Alloys” project was amalgamated into the Manhattan project and several scientist including Niels Bohr, Vannevar Bush, Arthur Compton, Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, Emil Fuchs, Otto Frisch and Oppenheimer worked on the project. On the 15th of July 1945 the fruits of their labour were recognised with the first test of a nuclear weapon which was detonated in New Mexico, US.
In 1918 the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, is executed with his wife and children after the ‘February Revolution’.
After the ‘February Revolution’ between the 8th and 12th of March (called the February Revolution because it started in February based on the old Julian calendar used at the time) Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate by the will of the people. His Army garrison in the capital of Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) had also joined the revolutionaries calling for socialist reforms and it was not safe for him or his family anymore. Upon his abdication he named his brother as his successor, but he wisely turned down the position which ended Tsarist rule in Russia. When counter revolutionary forces began to advance on the captive ex-Tsar’s position in July 1918, the soviet revolutionaries executed Nicholas, his wife, children and many of the servants, shooting them dead on the night of the 16th of July 1918.
