NPR

The Toads Of Trinity: Witnesses To The Atomic Age

The night before the world entered the atomic age on July 16, 1945, Robert Oppenheimer's brother Frank couldn't sleep.
This July 16, 1945 photo, shows the mushroom cloud of the first atomic explosion at Trinity Test Site, New Mexico. (AP Photo)

They were all there.

Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the bomb; Edward Teller, the original Dr. Strangelove; Enrico Fermi, creator of the first nuclear reactor, was taking bets on whether the blast would ignite the atmosphere and destroy the world.

The scientists were waiting, nervously, for the morning to come. But Oppenheimer’s brother Frank couldn’t sleep. He was listening to the strange sound coming from the edge of the Trinity camp in New Mexico on July 15, 1945, the night before the atomic test.

The world was about to enter the

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