Summer of Trinity Again - Week ending June 16, 1945

Summer of Trinity Again - Week ending June 16, 1945

Re-running Summer of Trinity, this time with episodes released at the start of their respective weeks rather than the end. Just for a different perspective. June 10 to June 16, 1945 This is Summer of Trinity, for the week ending Saturday June 16, 1945. Sunday, June 10,1945 - 36 Days Before Trinity It's the 71st day of the Battle of Okinawa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_William_D._Porter_(DD-579) Monday, June 11,1945 - 35 Days Before Trinity It's the 72nd day of the Battle of Okinawa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Miles_McCool [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Miles_McCool] Tuesday, June 12,1945 - 34 Days Before Trinity It is the 73rd day of the Battle of Okinawa. General Eisenhower receives the "Freedom of the City" at London's Guildhall. This symbolic act, with seven hundred years of history behind it, makes him "a citizen of the city." https://www.nps.gov/articles/general-eisenhower.htm [https://www.nps.gov/articles/general-eisenhower.htm] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franck_Report [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franck_Report] Wednesday, June 13,1945 - 33 Days Before Trinity It is the 74th day of the Battle of Okinawa. Thursday, June 14,1945 - 32 Days Before Trinity It is the 75th day of the Battle of Okinawa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Inmate [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Inmate] Friday, June 15,1945 - 31 Days Before Trinity It is the 76th day of the Battle of Okinawa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calutron [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calutron] (How they enriched U-235 for Little Boy) https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/science-behind-atom-bomb Saturday, June 16,1945 - 30 Days Before Trinity It's the 77th day of the Battle of Okinawa. The Science Panel, headed by Robert Oppenheimer, and also including Enrico Fermi, Ernest O. Lawrence and Arthur H. Compton, gives the following report, classified Top Secret, to the Interim Committee: The report is titled "RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE IMMEDIATE USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS" and begins as follows: [Note to self - some emphasis included here to assist in reading as a script, but there's no font differences in the original.] You have asked us to comment on the initial use of the new weapon. This use, in our opinion, should be such as to promote a satisfactory adjustment of our international relations. At the same time, we recognize our obligation to our nation to use the weapons to help save American lives in the Japanese war. (1) To accomplish these ends we recommend that before the weapons are used not only Britain, but also Russia, France, and China be advised that we have made considerable progress in our work on atomic weapons, that these may be ready to use during the present war, and that we would welcome suggestions as to how we can cooperate in making this development contribute to improved international relations. (2) The opinions of scientific colleagues on the initial use of these weapons are not unanimous; they range from the proposal of a purely technical demonstration to that of the military application best designed to induce surrender. Those who advocate a purely technical demonstration would wish to outlaw the use of atomic weapons, and have feared that if we use the weapons now our position in future negotiations will be prejudiced. Others emphasize the opportunity of saving American lives by immediate military use, and believe that such use will improve the international prospects, in that they are more concerned with the prevention of war than with the elimination of this specific weapon. We find ourselves closer to these latter views; we can propose no technical demonstration likely to bring an end to the war; we see no acceptable alternative to direct military use. (3) With regard to these general aspects of the use of atomic energy, it is clear that we, as scientific men, have no proprietary rights. It is true that we are among the few citizens who have had occasion to give thoughtful consideration to these problems during the past few years. We have, however, no claim to special competence in solving the political, social, and military problems which are presented by the advent of atomic power. The report is signed by Robert Oppenheimer, with the note "for the panel" https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/manhattan-project/interim-committee.html [https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/manhattan-project/interim-committee.html] As this week ends, the Trinity atomic bomb test has not yet been scheduled. However, it is exactly 30 days away. Summer of Trinity is a part of Mapping History here on The Latest Generation.

Summer of Trinity Again - Week Ending June 2, 1945

Re-running Summer of Trinity, this time with episodes released at the start of their respective weeks rather than the end. Just for a different perspective. A look at each day between Memorial Day and Labor Day, 1945 - the six weeks on either side of the Trinity test on July 16. (For future weeks, we'll have an entry for each day, but we already did May 1945 in the previous episode.) May 30, 1945. Wednesday. Memorial Day. It is the 60th day of the Battle of Okinawa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_Day] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day] May 31, 1945. Thursday. It is the 61st day of the battle of Okinawa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_B._Craft [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_B._Craft] June 1, 1945 Friday. It is the 62nd day of the Battle of Okinawa. Times around the world, as the meeting of the Interim Committee starts, 11AM in Washington DC https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/research-files/notes-meeting-interim-committee?documentid=NA&pagenumber=9 The members of the Interim Committee include (not a complete list) Mr. George H. Bucher, President of Westinghouse - manufacture of equipment for the electromagnetic process. Mr.Walter S. Carpenter, President of Du Pont Company - construction of the Hanford Project. Mr. James Rafferty, Vice President of Union Carbide - construction and operation of gas diffusion plant in Clinton. Mr. James White, President of Tennessee Eastman - production of basic chemicals and construction of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-12_National_Security_Complex [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-12_National_Security_Complex] The committee also discussed how difficult it would be for the Soviet Union to replicate the work that had been done on the atomic bomb. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/research-files/notes-meeting-interim-committee?documentid=NA&pagenumber=4

Summer of Trinity Again - May 1945

A introduction to the state of the world in May 1945, as part of a re-run of Summer of Trinity. * FDR is dead. * Truman is President, only three months after he became vice-president. * The Battle of Okinawa is ongoing - it had started on April 1st. * USS Indianapolis is in San Francisco for repairs from a kamikaze attack in the waters around Okinawa, just before the invasion began. * The USSR has just ended its non-agression pact with the Empire of Japan. * Mussoline is dead, killed on April 28 * Hitler is dead by suicide on April 30. * Nazi Germany is defeated on May 8. * The long-term coalition government in the UK ends with the victory over Germany. * Churchill has requested that elections be held, around the beginning of July. * In Los Alamos, the Manhattan Project team awaits deliveries of uranium and plutonium to use in their Little Boy and Fat Man designs. * And although nobody realizes it for certain, the war is nearly over.

Summer of Trinity Again - Intro

Summer of Trinity is a look at the summer of 1945, between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Halfway between those dates, on July 16, was the Trinity atomic weapon test - but a lot was happening all around the world, during the 6 weeks before and after Trinity. That's what this series will be about.

Lucas Birthday Edition - Lucas Portrait

This is just for fun, with no real generational connection except that both Abraham Lincoln and George Lucas are from Prophet generations. (Boom for Lucas, Transcendental for Lincoln.) And, as such, it's not surprising that a similar arrangement works for both of them. If you like Star Wars and Aaron Copland, you may enjoy it. Fun fact: George Lucas' birthday is May 14, 1944, which was the two-year anniversary of the premiere of Lincoln Portrait. Here's where I found the quotations: The first two are from different sections of a look back at The Phantom Menace: https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history [https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-i-the-phantom-menace-oral-history]) The "barbarians" quote is from testimony before the Senate in March 1988 - here's the text I used, from Wikisource: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1988_George_Lucas_testimony_before_United_States_Senate [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1988_George_Lucas_testimony_before_United_States_Senate] It's not clear that Lucas every actually said the thing about the sledgehammer, but it turns out the fourth section in Lincoln Portrait isn't well sourced either. And in both cases, it's certainly something they might have said. I originally found the last bit here: https://www.biography.com/news/george-lucas-star-wars-facts [https://www.biography.com/news/george-lucas-star-wars-facts] But it turns out it was from a New York Times interview of George Lucas while he was FILMING Star Wars in 1976. https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/12/archives/from-american-graffiti-to-outer-space.html [https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/12/archives/from-american-graffiti-to-outer-space.html] It's well worth the read.