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Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was a top-secret US government program that developed the world’s first atomic weapons. In 1938, scientists in Germany discovered nuclear fission—the splitting of an atom that releases enormous energy.
Fearing Nazi Germany might build an atomic bomb, President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized advisory committees to study nuclear weapons—efforts that evolved into the Manhattan Project in 1942. The program was overseen by the US Army Corps of Engineers under the direction of General Leslie Groves, with physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer serving as scientific director.
Work took place across three primary sites—Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico—where scientists produced the fissile material and designs for the first nuclear weapons. The project culminated in the Trinity test in July 1945, when a plutonium implosion bomb was detonated in the New Mexico desert.
The Manhattan Project cost an estimated $27B in today’s dollars and ushered the world into the atomic era, reshaping global warfare, diplomacy, and the balance of power.Explore Manhattan Project
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Spies working on the Manhattan Project propelled the Soviet bomb programSoviet infiltration—most notably by Klaus Fuchs—smuggled detailed implosion-design and hydrogen‑bomb data from Los Alamos to Moscow, cutting the USSR’s development time by at least a year and enabling their first atomic test in August 1949. Smithsonian MagazineManhattan Project explainedDriven by fears of a Nazi nuclear bomb, the Manhattan Project united leading scientists to build the first atomic weapons. Its success ended World War II, caused catastrophic human loss, and launched the nuclear age that reshaped global politics and science. 1440The story of the Manhattan Project's unused demon coreA 3-inch, 14-pound sphere of nuclear reactive plutonium-gallium was set to be delivered to the Pacific Theater in 1945 to become the third atomic bomb dropped over Japan. When Japan surrendered, it was returned to Los Alamos in New Mexico for experiment, where two scientists would die testing whether the core could reach criticality—where it would release intense energy—via the use of a dense reflector. Watch the story here. Kyle HillRobert Oppenheimer became the face of the Manhattan Project and the atomic bombThis feature explores Oppenheimer’s early life, the traits that made him central to the development of the atomic bomb, and how his later years were marked by tension between pride in his work and opposition to weapons of mass destruction. BBCThe Manhattan Project created secret cities that didn’t appear on mapsTo maintain secrecy, the US built three remote research facilities and entire “secret cities” to house thousands of workers and families. These communities—home to tens of thousands—were omitted from official maps until after World War II. The GuardianModern Marvels examines the Manhattan ProjectThis episode of the television program 'Modern Marvels' focuses on the Manhattan Project, combining archival footage and interviews with historians and scientists to shed light on one of the most ambitious military and scientific endeavors in human history. HISTORYA four-part podcast traces how the Manhattan Project reshaped the worldThis podcast series explores the origins of the Manhattan Project, its secret cities, and the scientists behind it—showing how the effort contributed to the end of World War II, launched the Atomic Age, and later led Oppenheimer to become a critic of nuclear weapons. WonderyThe Manhattan Project was one of the most expensive undertakings of World War II Building the first atomic weapons required hundreds of thousands of workers, vast secret facilities, and enormous spending. This 1998 study details the full cost of the Manhattan Project and compares it to other major US wartime expenditures. Brookings InstituteThe Manhattan Project employed hundreds of thousands of workers across the USBetween 1942 and 1945, the Manhattan Project relied on a vast workforce spread across secret sites. They performed roles ranging from scientific research to manual labor, motivated by patriotism, opportunity, secrecy, and wartime necessity. Nuclear MuseumMeet the the scientists of the Manhattan ProjectThis resource profiles the scientists behind the Manhattan Project—from Nobel laureates like Fermi and Bethe to controversial figures like Teller and Fuchs—showing how their ideas, rivalries, and choices shaped the development of the atomic age. Office of Scientific and Technical InformationLearn more about the three sites that powered the Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project relied on three main sites: Oak Ridge, which enriched uranium; Hanford, which produced plutonium in large reactors; and Los Alamos, which designed and assembled the bombs—work that culminated in the Trinity nuclear test in 1945. National Park ServiceInterviews from the Manhattan ProjectThis is an archive of interviews with people who worked on and were impacted by the Manhattan Project, the World War II-era effort that resulted in the atomic bomb. Listen to the "father of the atomic bomb," Julius Robert Oppenheimer, describe his daily routine during the project, which he reports officially started Dec. 6, 1941. This archive also includes interviews with survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. National Museum of Nuclear Science & HistoryOne graffiti artist turned a train tunnel into his galleryChris Pape, also known as Freedom, began exploring a tunnel under Manhattan's Riverside Park when he was a kid. As he grew more involved with graffiti, he turned its walls into a massive art project, one that reflected both the history of graffiti and the people who made the tunnel their home. VICEVisualizing the AI investment waveThis data visualization from Reuters shows how massive AI investment has become by December 2025—revealing that, in today’s dollars, spending has surpassed the combined total of the Apollo program and the Manhattan Project. ReutersCillian Murphy won best actor for his portrayal of Robert OppenheimerCillian Murphy won Best Actor for his portrayal of Robert Oppenheimer in "Oppenheimer". The major critical and commercial success brought the Manhattan Project into popular culture and sparked renewed public interest in the nuclear age. OscarsExplore the components of the linear particle accelerator at Los AlamosLocated at the site of bomb design and development for the Manhattan Project, LANSCE features an injector system for hydrogen ions, a series of tanks with alternating electric fields for proton acceleration, and an isotope production facility that creates radioisotopes for medical treatments. Los Alamos National Lab'The Chinatown Sting': Unraveling an international drug smuggling ringIn the late 1980s, a group of women connected through the mahjong parlors in Manhattan’s Chinatown were caught in a massive undercover drug bust. But this bust was just the beginning of an even bigger case. PushkinPenicillin production was just behind the atom bomb in wartime priorities By 1943, the US War Department made penicillin its second-highest priority—just after the Manhattan Project. Producing enough of the antibiotic for the D-Day invasion became a central mission of Allied science and industry.
The ConversationThe architectural evolution of New York City's ChinatownCityscapes continuously evolve, and each stage in their transformation tells a unique story. In Manhattan's Chinatown from the 1940s to today, the architecture has bloomed from an ethnic conclave for often mistreated migrants to a vibrant cultural hub today. See varying elevations and facades over time. Cheryl Wing-Zi WongA Manhattan building doomed to collapse was saved in secretAfter completing the Citicorp Center, its engineer realized that cost-cutting measures to use bolted instead of welded joints made the building vulnerable to collapse under quartering winds. For three months, crews worked in secret at night to reinforce the building under Project Serene. VeritasiumJ. Robert Oppenheimer’s grandson says his grandfather would back nuclear powerWhile the "father of the atomic bomb" referred to the bomb as "an evil thing," after the Manhattan Project, he also described nuclear energy’s potential as an environmentally friendly solution to address the world's energy problem. TIMEBuilding the first atomic bomb required unprecedented coordinationCreating the first atomic bombs demanded breakthroughs in physics, engineering, and logistics—uniting elite scientists with tens of thousands of workers across the US. This in-depth history explains how the Manhattan Project overcame those challenges. Carnegie Mellon UniversityEinstein warned the president that splitting atoms could lead to powerful bombsIn a 1939 letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Albert Einstein explained that nuclear fission could produce immense energy—and devastating weapons. The warning helped spur the Manhattan Project, a role Einstein later deeply regretted. BBC
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