On September 19, 1957, the United States detonated a 1.7-kiloton
nuclear weapon in an underground tunnel at the Nevada Test Site
(NTS), a 1,375-square-mile research center located 65 miles north
of Las Vegas. The test, known as Rainier, was the first fully contained
underground detonation and produced no radioactive fallout. A
modified W-25 warhead weighing 218 pounds and measuring
25.7 inches in diameter and 17.4 inches in length was used
for the test. Rainier was part of a series of 29 nuclear weapons
and nuclear weapons safety tests known as Operation Plumbob
that were conducted at the NTS between May 28, 1957, and
October 7, 1957.

On August 3, 1958, the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus
accomplished the first undersea voyage to the geographic
North Pole. The world’s first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus
dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles
under the Arctic ice cap to reach the top of the world.

The launching of USS Nautilus.     

The USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear submarine, was commissioned
by the U.S. Navy on September 30, 1954.

The Nautilus was constructed under the direction of U.S. Navy Captain
Hyman G. Rickover, a brilliant Russian-born engineer who joined the U.S.
atomic program in 1946. In 1947, he was put in charge of the navy’s nuclear-propulsion program and began work on an atomic submarine. Regarded as
a fanatic by his detractors, Rickover succeeded in developing and delivering
the world’s first nuclear submarine years ahead of schedule. In 1952, the
Nautilus‘ keel was laid by President Harry S. Truman, and on January 21,
1954, first lady Mamie Eisenhower broke a bottle of champagne across its
bow as it was launched into the Thames River at Groton, Connecticut. Commissioned on September 30, 1954, it first ran under nuclear power
on the morning of January 17, 1955.

Hyman G. Rickover
(January 27, 1900 – July 8, 1986)

Rickover is known as the "Father of the
Nuclear Navy," and his influence on the
Navy and its warships was of such scope
that he "may well go down in history as
one of the Navy’s most important officers."

Harry S. Truman
(May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972)

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 1969, Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy, FL,
and began the first manned mission to land on the moon.

Nasa astronauts from left: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.

TIM MAGUIRE

It was on this day in 1998.

John King executed for the dragging death of James Byrd Jr.