British nuclear tests were conducted at Maralinga in the Woomera Prohibited Area in South Australia between 1956 and 1963. A total of seven major nuclear tests took place at Maralinga, with explosive yields ranging from approximately 1 to 27 kilotonnes of TNT (4 to 110 terajoules). Two major test series were conducted: Operation Buffalo (final test pictured) in 1956 and Operation Antler the following year. One bomb used cobalt pellets as a tracer for determining yield, resulting in rumours that Britain was developing a cobalt bomb. The site was also used for trials of neutron initiators and tests on the compression of nuclear weapon cores and the effects of fire on atomic weapons. It was left contaminated with radioactive waste, and a clean-up was attempted in 1967. A further clean-up was completed in 2000. In 1994, the Australian government paid $13.5 million in compensation to the traditional owners, the Maralinga Tjarutja people. The land was restored to them in 2014.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nuclear_tests_at_Maralinga> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1580: Explorer Francis Drake's galleon Golden Hind (replica pictured) sailed into Plymouth, England, completing his circumnavigation of the globe. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Hind> 1917: World War I: The Battle of Polygon Wood, part of the Battle of Passchendaele, began near Ypres, Belgium. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Polygon_Wood> 1933: As gangster Machine Gun Kelly surrendered to the FBI, he supposedly shouted "Don't shoot, G-Men!", which became a nickname for FBI agents. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Gun_Kelly> 1983: Soviet lieutenant colonel Stanislav Petrov averted a potential nuclear war by identifying as a false alarm signals that appeared to indicate an impending U.S. missile attack. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Soviet_nuclear_false_alarm_incident> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: jovial: 1. (comparable) Cheerful and good-humoured; jolly, merry. 2. (not comparable, astrology, obsolete) Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Jupiter; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see sense 1). <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jovial> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: Do I dare to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me. I have seen them riding seaward on the waves Combing the white hair of the waves blown back When the wind blows the water white and black. We have lingered in the chambers of the sea By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown Till human voices wake us, and we drown. --T. S. Eliot <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/T._S._Eliot> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/daily-article-l.lists.wikimedia.org Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
