Spotlight
The hydrogen bomb is a nuclear weapon that can devastate anything within a 150-square mile (388 sq. km.) area; the radioactive fallout can cover some 800 square miles (2072 sq. kms.). The United States exploded the first aerial hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean 50 years ago today. Andrei Sakharov, the Soviet physicist, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner who helped build the Soviet Union's first hydrogen bomb, was born on this date in 1921.

Quote
"He was ... a crystal of morality among our scientists." – Nikita Khrushchev, on Andrei Sakharov's concern for the dangerous potential of experimental nuclear explosions

Word of the day
atoll: a round coral island that surrounds a lagoon; some of the hydrogen bomb testing was done over atolls. (© )

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Today's History

• American Red Cross: founded by Clara Barton (1881)
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Today's Birthdays

• Fats Waller: jazz musician and composer who wrote "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1904-1943)
• Mr. T: gold-chain-wearing tough-guy actor, A-Team (54)
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