American Historical Ephemera and Photography

[OPERATION IVY - MIKE TEST]. Photograph from atomic test at Enewetak Atoll 31 October 1952 (but printed 2009). 20 x 24 in. color print on Harman Fiber paper.

The Operation Ivy tests were the eighth series nuclear tests conducted by the United States Army and the first to utilize hydrogen rather than atomic bombs. The Mike test was the first successful detonation of a multi-megaton thermonuclear weapon, yielding 10.4 megatons, nearly 500 times the explosive force of the bomb dropped on Nagasaki seven years earlier. Following the test Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Gordon Dean reported to incoming president Dwight D. Eisenhower, "The island of Elugelab is missing!"

[With:] [OPERATION CASTLE - BRAVO TEST]. Photograph of the Castle Bravo test 1 March 1954 (but printed 2009). 16 x 20 in. color print on Harman fiber paper, and matted.

The first in a series of high-yield thermonuclear device tests, the Castle Bravo weapon was detonated on March 1, 1954 at Bikini Atoll. The weapon's 15 megaton yield is the largest ever tested by the United States. The Castle Bravo test and the ensuing radioactive fallout from the explosion led to a wave of protests, particularly throughout Japan, where the explosion was compared to the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These tests left an indelible mark on the Japanese psyche and have been frequently referenced in Japanese popular culture.

[Also with:] [OPERATION DOMINIC - TRUCKEE TEST]. Photograph from atomic test at Christmas Island 6 June 1962 (but printed 2009). 20 x 24 in. color print on Harman Fiber paper.

Operation Dominic comprised a series of 31 nuclear tests which took place from 25 April-30 October 1962. The tests were authorized by President John F. Kennedy following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and Nikita Khrushchev's decision to end the Soviet Union's three-year moratorium on nuclear testing. The largest nuclear weapons testing program ever conducted by the United States, they were also the last atmospheric tests before the ratification of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963.