J. Robert Oppenheimer, 'father of the atomic bomb,' dies

During World War II, Oppenheimer was appointed director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where he led the scientific effort to develop the first atomic bombs as part of the Manhattan Project. The bombs developed at Los Alamos were dropped the following month on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, helping bring the war to an end but also ushering in the uncertainty of the nuclear age. “Robert Oppenheimer lived the remainder of his life in the blinding light and the crepusculine shadow of the world’s first manmade atomic explosion, an event for which he was largely responsible,” the Times wrote.

Author: HISTORY.com Editors

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