In 1986 a British newspaper publishes a story that claims that Israel has secretly developed nuclear weapons

The first nation to create and test a nuclear bomb was the United States in July 1945 with a 20kt device named “Trinity” followed by Russia with “RDS-1” in Aug/Sep 1949. The United Kingdom tested their first nuclear bomb on the 3rd of August 1952 with “Hurricane” a 25 kiloton device tested off Western Australia. On the 13th of February 1960 France tested their 70kt “Gerboise bleue" becoming the fourth and on the 16th of October 1964 China became the fifth with their 22 kiloton device.

Shortly after the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty was created with 190 countries having signed the treaty but in 2003 North Korea withdrew its participation. India, Pakistan and North Korea are the only countries to have openly tested their nuclear weapons rejecting the Treaty.

The treaty came into effect on the 5^th of March 1970 and called for all nations that signed to only use nuclear power for peaceful means such as the production of power (excluding the 5 permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)). 190 countries have signed the treaty but in 2003 North Korea withdrew its participation. India, Pakistan and North Korea are the only countries to have openly tested their nuclear weapons rejecting the Treaty. Israel is widely believed that Israel has nuclear weapons but they have never officially admitted anything.

Mordechai Vanunu a technician at the Dimona plant in Israel fled to Britain and gave an interview for the Sunday Times. During the interview he supplied photographs and detailed information about the plant he worked at which he stated was a nuclear weapons facility. The story was published on the 5^th of October 1986 and the following morning Vanunu had disappeared. Many feared he had been kidnapped and these beliefs were later confirmed. He had been befriended by an American Mossad agent who was posing as an American tourist. She lured him to a hotel in Rome where he was drugged and smuggled into Israel to stand trial for treason. Vanunu was imprisoned for 18 years (11 of which were in solitary confinement) and released on the 21^st of April 2004. He is still not allowed to leave the country and refuses to speak about the subject.

In 1962 The Beatles released their first single “Love Me Do” (with “PS I Love You” as a ‘B’ side) in the United Kingdom