United States War Department

The following news release by the War Department on the testing of the atomic bomb on July 16, 1945, includes eyewitness testimony by Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrell and Brigadier General Leslie R. Groves. They and a group of renowned scientists witnessed the momentous event that ushered mankind into the Atomic Age. The Trinity Test — named after the test site — took place in the remote desert of the Alamogordo Air Base, 120 miles southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico. No one knew if the years of work on the bomb would culminate in a successful explosion. Tensions were high. So was anticipation, as the detonation was delayed because of an unpredicted rainstorm. When the rain stopped and the bomb was readied, the scientists and military observers took their posts in the control center 17,000 yards from the tower that held the bomb...