Minutes | The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists changes its format from a newsletter to a magazine. Its first cover features a clock, both conceptualized and designed by artist Martyl Langsdorf. At the time, Langsdorf designed it because “it seemed the right time on the page … it suited my eye.” This purely a… | The Doomsday Clock is a design that warns the public about how close we are to destroying our world with dangerous technologies of our own making. It is a metaphor, a reminder of the perils we must address if we are to survive on the planet.
The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by the Bulletin… | The Clock Starts Running | 30-12-1899 23:53:00 | 1947 | 7 | 420 | 468.50036 | 520.10327 |
Minutes | In the fall, at a remote site in Central Asia, the Soviet Union explodes a nuclear device—the design of which is very similar to that of the bomb that the United States used on Japan four years earlier. The Soviets deny the test, but US President Harry Truman shares the news with the American public… | nan | The Arms Race is On | 30-12-1899 23:57:00 | 1949 | 3 | 180 | 216.3119 | 665.73956 |
Minutes | Over the opposition of many nuclear scientists, the United States decides to pursue the hydrogen bomb, a weapon far more powerful than any atomic bomb. In October 1952, the United States tests its first thermonuclear device, obliterating a Pacific Ocean islet in the process. Nine months later, the S… | nan | The Horror of Hydrogen | 30-12-1899 23:58:00 | 1953 | 2 | 120 | 145.39478 | 684.73379 |
Minutes | Political actions belied the superpowers’ tough talk of “massive retaliation.” For the first time, the United States and the Soviet Union seek to avoid direct confrontation in regional conflicts such as the 1956 Egyptian-Israeli dispute. Joint projects to build trust and dialogue between third parti… | nan | Cooperation, not Confrontation | 30-12-1899 23:53:00 | 1960 | 7 | 420 | 468.50036 | 520.10327 |
Minutes | Within 10 days, the most acute crisis of the Cold War is resolved through discussions on Soviet missiles in Cuba. But founding editor Eugene Rabinowitch and the Bulletin community do not move the hands of the Clock. They view the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis as indicators of longer-term trends… | nan | A Close Call, but off the Clock | 30-12-1899 23:53:00 | 1962 | 7 | 420 | 468.50036 | 520.10327 |
Minutes | After the near-catastrophe of the Cuban Missile Crisis a year before and a decade of almost non-stop nuclear tests, the United States and the Soviet Union sign the Partial Test Ban Treaty, which ends all atmospheric nuclear testing. The treaty does nothing to outlaw underground testing, but it repre… | nan | A Rest from Tests | 30-12-1899 23:48:00 | 1963 | 12 | 720 | 665.73956 | 216.3119 |
Minutes | While the superpowers wage the Cold War, much hotter wars rage in Asia. United States involvement in Vietnam intensifies, India and Pakistan battle over Kashmir in 1965, and Israel and its Arab neighbors renew hostilities in 1967. Worse yet, France and China develop nuclear weapons in order to asser… | nan | The Eastern World Explodes | 30-12-1899 23:53:00 | 1968 | 7 | 420 | 468.50036 | 520.10327 |
Minutes | Nearly all of the world’s nations come together to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The deal is simple: States with nuclear weapons vow to help the treaty’s other signatories develop nuclear power if they promise not to produce weapons. The nuclear weapon states also pledge to abolish thei… | nan | A Landmark Agreement | 30-12-1899 23:50:00 | 1969 | 10 | 600 | 606.29107 | 349.87303 |
Minutes | After more than 20 years vying for arms, the United States and Soviet Union sign two treaties that attempt to curb the race for nuclear superiority in favor of rough parity between the superpowers. The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) limits the number of ballistic missile launchers either co… | nan | Passing the SALT | 30-12-1899 23:48:00 | 1972 | 12 | 720 | 665.73956 | 216.3119 |
Minutes | South Asia gets the bomb, as India tests its first nuclear device. Any gains in previous arms control agreements seem like a mirage. The United States and Soviet Union appear to be modernizing their nuclear forces, not reducing them. Thanks to the deployment of multiple independently targetable reen… | nan | India Joins the Club | 30-12-1899 23:51:00 | 1974 | 9 | 540 | 566.3119 | 411.44968 |