“Atomic Annie” (real name M65 Atomic Canon) was a piece of artillery manufactured by the U.S. in the early part of the Cold War. It was able to fire a 600 pound nuclear projectile about 20 miles. There were 20 of these cannons made, but none of them were ever fired in anger. In fact, only one atomic projectile was ever fired. That test shot was taken at the the Nevada Test Site on May 25, 1953.

The 500-ton TNT explosive charge for Shot “Bravo”, first of a series of three non-nuclear test explosions, is ready for detonation on the southwestern tip of Kahoolawe Island, Hawaii, circa early February 1965.

It is 17 feet high and 34 feet in diameter. Weapons effects test ship Atlanta (IX-304) is moored in the background. The purpose of these three tests was to study the effects of shock and blast of a nuclear explosion on naval vessels.

Life and death in Aleppo, Syria. This photo shows the exact moment when a tank shell explodes in front of four soldiers of the Noor Den al-Zenke batallion, who man a two-block stretch of back streets that now forms the final line between government troops and opposition forces.

The “Baker” explosion, part of Operation Crossroads, a nuclear weapon test by the United States military at Bikini Atoll, Micronesia, on 25 July 1946.

The wider, exterior cloud is actually just a condensation cloud caused by the Wilson chamber effect, and was very brief. The actual mushroom cloud is inside the condensation cloud.

The water released by the explosion was highly radioactive and contaminated many of the ships that were set up near it. Some were otherwise undamaged and sent to Hunter’s Point in San Francisco, California, United States for decontamination. Those which could not be decontaminated were sunk a number of miles off the coast of San Francisco.

Big bang, by Allan Roberts.

History’s fifth atomic explosion. A standard Fat Man type Mk 3A fission bomb was used in test.

The bomb was encased in a watertight steel caisson, and suspended beneath landing ship LSM-60. Eight ships were sunk or capsized, eight more were severly damaged. Serious radioactive contamination of the lagoon occurred, radiation exposure at the surface near the detonation point amounted to a lethal 730 R in the first 24 hours. Bikini Island, some three miles from surface zero could not be safely landed on until a week had passed. As water falls back from the stem, it forms a dense highly radioactive cloud called the “base surge”. Stern of the USS Saratoga can be seen rising 13 meter (43 feet) on the crest of the first wave (28,6 meter/94 feet high). Waves 1,8 meter (6 feet) high were seen 22,000 feet (7 km) from the explosion.

Just chillin’.

9/11