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The nuclear arsenal grows

  • 1945: U.S. uses atomic bombs on Japan; nuclear monopoly
  • 1949: Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, ending the U.S. monopoly
  • 1952: U.S. tests the first hydrogen bomb, far more powerful than atomic bombs
  • 1953: Soviet Union tests its hydrogen bomb
  • By the 1980s: Each superpower possessed tens of thousands of nuclear warheads, enough to destroy human civilization many times over
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