What a day in history

Every once in a while, just by crazy coincidence, certain dates go down in history as watershed dates. Clearly, July 16 is one of those days, and I'm only talking about in the last 62 years.

Sixty-two years ago today, in the pre-dawn hours at the Trinity Site in New Mexico, the first nuclear bomb in history was detonated. (Above, one of the few color photographs that exists of the explosion.) It was the culmination of the Manhattan Project. Less than three weeks later, the first atomic bomb was dropped on a nation at Hiroshima, Japan, and the world has never been the same, nor will it ever be.

To me, the Trinity Test was the single biggest event of the 20th Century - it ended World War II, saving many lives, and the nuclear age was spawned. The second biggest event of the 20th Century was the Space Race, culminating with Apollo 11, which launched on this day in 1969 (Below).

When Neil Armstrong stepped off the ladder of Eagle four days later, becoming the first human to set foot on another world, humankind was changed forever. I wish I would have been alive and old enough to witness Apollo 11 and the subsequent moon landings. I'm thrilled that we are going back, and I hope I live to see the day we walk on Mars.

As I mentioned before, I believe the two biggest events of the 20th Century were World War II and man setting foot on the moon. It's also sort of funny that these two watershed events share another important date, coming up this Friday: July 20. That's when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, and when the German resistance tried to kill Adolf Hitler. These are world-changing events for another reason - think for a moment if both of these events had turned out differently: Apollo 11 tragically fails, and the plot to kill Hitler succeeds; we've be living in possibly a very different world today.

Anyway, I'll write more about July 20 later in the week. Just thought I'd pause today and observe these two dramatic events.