In 1946 the US detonated two atomic bombs at Bikini Atoll to see what they would do to a fleet of warships

historyWikipedia1946 · Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands

In 1946 the US detonated two atomic bombs at Bikini Atoll to see what they would do to a fleet of warships

the gist

In mid-1946 the United States carried out Operation Crossroads, a pair of nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The aim was to find out how nuclear bombs would damage warships, so a fleet of 95 target ships was gathered in the lagoon. The first bomb, Able, was dropped from a B-29 on July 1 and exploded in the air, missing its aim point by about 650 metres, which spared more of the fleet than planned. The second, Baker, was detonated underwater on July 25 and sprayed radioactive water over the ships, contaminating nearly all of them. The fallout was so severe that the Navy could scrap only nine of the target ships, and the test is often called the world's first nuclear disaster. Bikini's residents had been moved off the island beforehand, and the atoll stayed largely uninhabited after the later thermonuclear tests there.

so what

Crossroads was the first nuclear test to be publicly announced in advance and watched by invited observers and a large press corps, setting a template for the many tests that followed in the Marshall Islands. It showed that nuclear weapons created lasting radioactive contamination at sea, not just blast damage, a lesson that shaped later naval and environmental policy.

fun fact

The bomb dropped in the first test was named Gilda after Rita Hayworth's character in the 1946 film Gilda.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗