On this date in 1945, the first atomic bomb – seen here with Los Alamos Director J. Robert Oppenheimer – was hoisted to the top of a 100-foot tower in the New Mexico desert.
It was a Saturday. At 5:29:21 (plus or minus 2 seconds) a.m. on Monday, July 16, 1945, the device exploded with an energy equivalent to around 20 kilotons of TNT. It left a crater of radioactive glass in the desert 10 feet deep and 1,100 feet wide.
But I digress. I drew my first breath on that Saturday the bomb was raised to the top of the tower.
Consequently, at the age of 69, I am two days older than the Atomic Age.
I am still puzzled to find myself at such an advanced age. I don’t feel like I’m pushing 70, but that’s how the numbers add up.
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