In 1947, scientists who developed the first nuclear bombs came up with a way to gauge how close the world was to nuclear annihilation. They created a “Doomsday Clock” to publicize the release of the first issue of their magazine. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists showed the clock on its cover, with the clock set at seven minutes to midnight.
Although there was no other nation that possessed nuclear weapons, everyone knew that the Soviet Union would soon have them. Sure enough, in 1949, the Soviets detonated a device in Central Asia, setting off an arms race.
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