Description
Item up for sale is the original and complete, (16 page,) July 1st, 1946 edition of The Chronicle-Telegram, an Elyria, Ohio, daily publication. Among the lead stories of the day was of the Nuclear bomb testing that was taking place at Bikini Atoll, a group of islands located within the Marshall Island chain. The testing which had begun on July first 1946, would be a planned series of detonations, the first phase being called "Able." The bomb was christened "Gilda" after the 1946 movie of the same name, and its heart-stopping star and former wartime pinup girl, Rita Hayworth. The bomb was aimed at causing damage to several naval war ships anchored within the blast radius, but the bomb would miss its target and the damage would be less than hoped for; but nevertheless several ships were sunk or damaged. The second test would be called "Baker," and that bomb was named, "Helen of Bikini," that test would occur on July 25th, 1946, 4 weeks after this newspaper's release. It would be an underwater blast, which would cause unanticipated contamination from the extensive sea spray that it generated. The third test "Charlie" would be cancelled. The tests would be the first of its kind since "Operation Trinity" took place at Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16th, 1945. In the following month of August, 1945, the bomb would be used in earnest at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, resulting in cessation of hostilities. It also was the first use of such a device since the Nagasaki bombing. Between 1946 and 1958 there would be a total of 23 nuclear tests at the Bikini atoll. This is a great item which can still be read and is suitable for framing.
