Thermonuclear Bassoon

Written By Richard Yoder

Bassoon exploding on Bikini Atoll

May 27th

On this day in 1956, the United States government exploded the world’s first three-stage thermonuclear bomb, code-named “Bassoon.”  The Bassoon weighed 5526 kilograms, and measured 1 meter in diameter and 3.5 meters in length.  The Bassoon left a crater on Bikini Atoll 718 meters wide and 117 meters deep.

Richard Yoder
Previous

Huffing and puffing through Mozart
Next

Bassoon reed thief at the Old Bailey