Minnesota's Greatest Generation

Mushroom-shaped cloud produced by an atomic explosion, 1945.

Among the most memorable images of World War II are pictures taken of atomic bomb explosions. The detonation produced a flash of extremely bright light followed by a towering, mushroom-shaped cloud.

Creator: U.S. Air Force
Publisher: Courtesy Harry S. Truman Library
Date: 1945

Mushroom-shaped cloud produced by an atomic explosion, 1945.