The Dawn of a New Age

On July 16 at 5:30 am 1945, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the desert of New Mexico. It outshone the sun, those who looked into the burst were temporarily blinded. The heat vaporized every object around it, and a powerful gust of wind knocked over viewers standing miles away. The terrifying explosion was not accompanied by screams or the sounds of the dying; but by thunderous applause .
What had occurred the July day, was the detonation of the world's first nuclear weapon. The bomb was commissioned by scientists and researchers working in the Manhattan project, a United States based scientific project who's sole purpose was to create the first nuclear bomb.
The scientists working on the bomb had mixed views as to what the nature of the explosion would be. The 5 ton sphere or "the gadget", loaded with plutonium, was hoisted on top of of a steel tower. Many nuclear scientists believed it would be a dud, while other believed it would bring about the end of the world. The explosion, was about equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT(20 kilotons). The test was deemed "Trinity." Scientists and journalists a couple days later (due to the fear of radiation poisoning), inspected the test site. The tower upon which it stood was almost completely vaporized, and the intense heat from the fireball melted a 1000 foot long section of the desert and formed a glassy crater. Everyone who inspected the site was stunned by the weapon's power, though despite the destruction caused by the blast, it was a small nuclear weapon and much more was to come.