July 16, 1945 the first nuclear devise ever detonated in Earth history occurred at the Trinity site near Alamogordo, New Mexico. From a weather perspective, scientists wanted good visibility, low humidity, light winds at low altitude, and westerly winds at high altitude for the test. The best weather was predicted between July 18 and 21, but the Potsdam Conference near the end of WWII between the Allies was due to start on July 16 and President Truman wanted the test to be conducted before the conference began. It was therefore scheduled for July 16, the earliest date at which the bomb components would be available. The detonation was initially planned for 4am Mountain War Time but was postponed because of rain and lightning from early that morning. It was feared that the danger from radiation from and fallout would be increased by rain, and lightning had the scientists concerned about a premature detonation. A crucial favorable weather report came in at 4:45am and the final countdown began at 5:10. By 05:20 the rain had gone. At 5:29am the device exploded with an energy equivalent to around 22 kilotons of TNT. The desert sand, largely made of silica, melted and became a radioactive light green glass. At the time of detonation, the surrounding mountains were illuminated "brighter than daytime" for one to two seconds, and the heat was reported as "being as hot as an oven" at the base camp. The roar of the shock wave took 40 seconds to reach the observers. It was felt over 100 miles away, and the mushroom cloud reached 7.5 miles in height. John Lugo was flying a U.S. Navy transport at 10,000 feet, 30 miles east of Albuquerque en route to the west coast. "My first impression was, the sun was coming up in the south. What a ball of fire! It was so bright it lit up the cockpit of the plane." Lugo radioed Albuquerque. He got no explanation for the blast but was told, "Don't fly south." Because the rain cleared and the test went off successfully Truman was able to tell Soviet leader Stalin then an ally, of a terrible new weapon the US had in its possession as it became, at that moment, the only nuclear power in the world. After the blast and the initial euphoria of witnessing the explosion had passed, Bainbridge one of those working on the project told Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the project, "Now we are all sons of bitches." Oppenheimer later recalled that, while witnessing the explosion, he thought of a verse from a Hindu holy book, the Gita, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

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