How it went on

1946: June 14-Baruch presents the Acheson-Lilienthal plan to internationalize the atom to the U.N.
June 30- First subsurface detonation by U.S. at Bikini atoll.
July- Demonstrations in Times Square, New York, against nuclear testing.
December 31-AEC takes over nuclear weapons program from the Army.
1948: April, May-U.S. atomic tests, Eniwetok Atoll.
1949: April 4- NATO established.
August 29- First Soviet detonation, in the Ustyurt desert.
October 30-General Advisory Committee of the AEC recommends that the more powerful atomic bombs should be built rather than hydrogen bombs.
1950: January 27-Fuchs confesses that he gave atomic secrets to the Soviets.
January 31-Truman announces the decision to proceed with the H-bomb.
1952: October 3-First British atomic detonation, Monte Bello Islands, Australia.
October 31-U.S. explodes first fusion device, Mike, of 10.4 Mt at Eniwetok.
1953: March- U.S. above-ground tests start in Nevada.
August 12-First Soviet fusion device exploded on a tower in Siberia.
1954: January 21-First nuclear-powered submarine, U.S.S. Nautilus, launched.
March 1-The 'BRAVO' H-bomb test; Marshall Islanders and the crew of the "Lucky Dragon"are affected by fallout.
April 12 to May 6-Oppenheimer hearings deny him access to nuclear secrets.
1955: November 22- First fusion device test by the Soviet Union, it had a yield of 1.6 megatons. The development was lead by Andrei Sakharov.
1957: May 15-First British H-bomb exploded at Christmas Island.
September 19-First underground test, Rainier, 1.7 kilotons.
1958: November, 1958 to September, 1961-U.S., U.K., and U.S.S.R. observe an informal moratorium on nuclear tests.
1960: February 13-First nuclear test by France, Sahara desert.
November 15-first Polaris missile launched from a submarine.
1961: February 1-U.S. launches Minuteman I missile.
September 1-U.S.S.R. resumes nuclear tests.
October 31-U.S.S.R. explodes the largest nuclear bomb, with a yield of a 58 megatons.
September 15-U.S. resumes nuclear tests.
1962: July 6-Sedan excavation experiment by Plowshare.
July 8-EMP from high-altitude burst turns off street lights in Oahu.
1963: June 20-U.S./U.S.S.R. sign 'hot line' agreement.
August 5-Limited Test Ban Treaty signed.
1964: October 16-China (PRC) explodes first nuclear bomb.
1966: January 17-U.S. B-52 bomber crashes near Palomares, Spain with 4 unarmed H-bombs.
September 24-First French H-bomb, Tuamoto Islands.
1967: January 27-Outer Space Treaty bans nuclear weapons being placed in orbit.
February 14-Treaty of Tlatelolco signed.
June 17-First fusion device test by the Chinese, with a yield of 3 megatons.
1968: July 1-Non-Proliferation Treaty opened for additional signatures.
1969: November to December-Preliminary SALT talks in Helsinki.
1970: March 5-NPT enters into force; 100 nations ratify it by 1980.
1971: March 30-U.S. deploys Poseidon SLBM.
1972: May 26-SALT I Treaty signed by Nixon and Brezhnev in Moscow.
November-SALT II negotiations begin.
1974: May 18-India sets off a low-yield device (10-15 kt) under Rajasthan desert.
November 24-U.S./U.S.S.R. agree to limit the number of strategic
launchers (2400) and MIRV launchers (1320).
1979: June 18-SALT II Treaty is signed in Vienna by Brezhnev and Carter.
December 26-U.S.S.R. invades Afghanistan; SALT II Treaty removed from consideration by the Senate.
1980: July 15-The U.S. reports that the light signals recorded over the South Atlantic on September 22, 1979 were probably not from a nuclear explosion.
1981: June 7-Israel destroys Iraq's Osirak reactor.
1982: June 29-Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) begin in Geneva.
1983: March 23-Reagan announces SDI program.
1986: November 28-The 131st U.S. B-52 bomber with ALCMs is deployed, exceeding the 130 limit, thus negating the SALT II Treaty.
December-First 10 MXs become operational.
1987: December 8-Reagan and Gorbachev sign the INF Treaty.