The Cannikin test was the largest underground nuclear test ever conducted by the United States. It took place in 1971 on Amchitka Island, Alaska, and was designed to test a powerful thermonuclear warhead for the Spartan anti ballistic missile system. The explosion had a yield of about 5 megatons, causing the ground above the test site to lift and then drop back down, triggering earthquakes and raising serious environmental concerns. Scientists worried it could fracture the island, release radioactive material, or even trigger a tsunami, which led to major protests and legal challenges at the time. Although the test did not cause the worst feared outcomes, it intensified public opposition to nuclear testing and played a role in pushing the U.S. toward ending underground nuclear tests in Alaska and later signing international test ban agreements.

Tony Benn would have been 100 today. Here's the Labour titan's stunning anti-war speech, as powerful now as it was in 1998. https://t.co/yX9vYepmRn