Chances are that when you hear of atomic bombs, images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki devastation and mushroom cloud explosions flash before your eyes. You might also think of supposedly contained test explosions or even post apocalyptic movies. What you may not know in all likelihood is that A bombs were also dropped on Europe. In 1966, at the peak of the Cold War, Not one, but four hydrogen bombs were dropped on Spain; the culprit: again the Americans. Following a deadly aerial crash the load of a B-52 bomber consisting of four H bombs each stronger than the ones dropped on Japan was released. 3 of the bombs hit the ground on the coastal Spain, near the fishing village of Palomares. The remaining bomb went missing in the sea. the whole region became polluted with nuclear radiation. Many People’s lives got changed and some farmers lost all they had to the contamination. The Americans and Spaniards continued their containment efforts and went on to find the fourth bomb lost at sea. All this came with an astronomical price tag and took many days. This was not the only folly in the short history of nuclear weaponry and it may not be the last given that the race is still raging on for producing more lethally efficient nuclear bombs and missiles.
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