October 14

It is undisputed that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. However, the same does not hold true for Los Alamos, Nevada. As part of the United States’ efforts to maintain their nuclear dominance over everybody, though especially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, quaintly known as the Russkies, beginning on the 14th in 1958 the United States began conducting underground tests of nuclear weapons. Tests of nuclear weapons had become quite common by this point. What made this particular test unique, and almost healthy according to the literature, was that it was an underground test whereas most of the others had been aboveground. I wonder if the soldiers trucked in to witness this test took any comfort from the fact that the bomb was detonated underground. While the poor SOBs watching the test missed a chance to see the fabulous, not to mention colorful, mushroom clouds over the stark Nevada landscape. They did however get to see first hand the affects of exposure to nuclear fallout. Not right away of course, some of them didn’t get sick and die until decades later.