(MUSIC)
But in nineteen forty-nine, a United States Air Force plane discovered strange conditions in the atmosphere. What was causing them?
The answer came quickly: the Soviet Union had tested its own atomic bomb.
The nuclear race was on. The two nations competed to build weapons of mass destruction.
A "doomsday clock" on the cover of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists warned of a growing danger of nuclear destruction. Members of that group were afraid of what science had produced, and even more afraid of what it could produce.
By nineteen forty-nine, the time on the doomsday clock was three minutes to midnight.
In nineteen fifty, North Korea invaded South Korea. The Korean War increased efforts in the United States to develop a weapon even more deadly than the atomic bomb. That weapon was the hydrogen bomb.
The Soviets were also working to develop their own hydrogen bomb.
Some Americans built bomb shelters in their backyards, hoping to have a safe place for their families in case of a nuclear attack.
Other Americans, however, were tired of being afraid. After years of sacrifice, they wanted to enjoy the good life in a growing economy.
Nineteen fifty-two was a presidential election year. Americans elected Dwight Eisenhower, a military hero of World War Two.
The years after the war produced the Baby Boom generation. In nineteen fifty there were twenty-four million young children in America. By nineteen sixty that number was thirty-five million.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25