Monthly Archives: May 2015

Interim Committee considers ‘demonstration’ of atomic bomb 70 years ago this hour (May 31 1945)


Video: 'Peter Jennings - Hiroshima: Why the Bomb was Dropped (1995)' (May 31, 1945, 32:09/39:27)

(Thursday, May 31, 1945, 10:00 a.m.-1:15 p.m./2:15 p.m.-4:15 p.m. EWT; during World War II) — The Interim Committee, created by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson at the urging of leaders of the Manhattan Project (a research and development project that produced the first atomic bombs), met secretly today at the Pentagon to consider the idea of giving the Japanese a non-combat demonstration of the new weapon of mass destruction.

First Lady Bess Truman christens ambulance plane 70 years ago today (May 30 1945)


Video: 'Harry S. Truman — Bess Truman Christens an Ambulance Plane'

(Wednesday, May 30, 1945, Memorial Day; during World War II) — In her first public appearance as first lady, Bess Truman today tried to christen an ambulance plane at Washington’s National Airport with a unprepared bottle of champagne. Eventually a hammer is employed against the bubbly (click here for a clip of this event from “American Experience: Truman” at 1:51:40).