What was The Manhattan Project, which made Oppenheimer ‘father of atomic bomb’

Oppenheimer, the latest work of British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan, featuring Irish actor Cillian Murphy is already one of the biggest movie hits this year around the world. The film continues to thrill the audience with its powerful storytelling and gripping portrayal of historical events from the most significant event of the 20th century - the creation of atomic bomb.

The biographical thriller is based on the theoretical physicist and scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who is credited as the “father of the atomic bomb." He played an important role in the Manhattan Project during the World War II, which successfully harnessed nuclear energy for the first time in history of mankind, marking the beginning of the atomic age. In the movie, Oppenheimer is played by Cillian Murphy.

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What was the Manhattan Project? A timeline of events that led to ‘Trinity Test’

1)The project officially lasted from June 1942 to August 1947. It employed over 1,30,000 people throughout the United States, as per the US government's official records.

2)After former US President Roosevelt approved the creation of an atomic bomb in January 1942, the Army Corps of Engineers Manhattan District was formally established in June. The then US Army Brigadier General Leslie Groves headed the lab. In September, Groves approved Oak Ridge, located in the eastern part of the US state of Tennessee as a secret site for uranium enrichment, the US government's website reads.

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3)In November 1942, Groves approved Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico as a secret site for atomic bomb development and construction. Oppenheimer served as the director of this laboratory from 1943 to 1945. By December 1942, Chicago Pile (CP-1), the world’s first experimental nuclear reactor reached a critical stage of construction.

4)In 1943, Groves approves Hanford in Washington as a secret site for plutonium production and by November the same year, the world’s first full-scale reactor named - ‘X-10 Graphite Reactor’ had reached a critical stage of development.

5)On April 12, 1945, President Roosevelt passed away. The following day, his successor Harry Truman was informed about the existence of the Manhattan Project.

6)The project successfully harnessed nuclear energy on July 16, 1945 after the successful detonation of the ‘Gadget’, the world's first atomic test device. ‘Trinity Test’ was set as the code name for this first ever detonation. The controversial undertaking of the Manhattan Project, which culminated into this explosion forever changed the course of humanity.

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