Tsar Bomba, the 50-Megaton Bomb of 30 October 1961 — the Largest Explosion Humans Have Ever Made
Detonated over Novaya Zemlya on 30 October 1961, the Soviet Tsar Bomba yielded about 50 megatons — thousands of Hiroshimas, deliberately halved from its 100-megaton design so the drop crew might survive. Its flash was visible 1,000 km away, its shockwave circled the Earth three times, and its chief designer, Andrei Sakharov, began the turn that made him a dissident.
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