aug 29, 1949 - The Soviet Union tests an atomic bomb in the Kazakhstan desert

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"On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union got its own bomb. Stalin authorised no public announcement of the successful test, which took place in the Kazakhstan desert, but within days airborne sampling flights the Americans had only recently begun flying began detecting radioactive fallout…Truman himself revealed the existence of the first Soviet nuclear weapon on September 23rd. The Kremlin then confirmed it." (Gaddis 2006, p. 35)

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