Editing Nuclear weapons testing (section)

==Milestone nuclear explosions==
The following list is of milestone nuclear explosions. In addition to the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], the first nuclear test of a given weapon type for a country is included, as well as tests that were otherwise notable (such as the largest test ever). All yields (explosive power) are given in their estimated energy equivalents in kilotons of [[trinitrotoluene|TNT]] (see [[TNT equivalent]]). [[List of nuclear tests#Alleged tests|Putative tests]] (like [[Vela incident]]) have not been included.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background-color:#efefef;"
! Date
! Name
! data-sort-type="number" | {{longitem|[[nuclear weapon yield|Yield]] (kt)}}
! Country
!class="unsortable"| Significance
|-
| {{Birth date|1945|07|16}}
| '''''[[Trinity test|Trinity]]'''''
| {{sort|19|18–20}}
| [[Nuclear weapons and the United States|United States]]
| First fission-device test, first plutonium implosion detonation.
|-
| {{Birth date|1945|08|06}}
| '''''[[Little Boy]]'''''
| {{sort|15|12–18}}
| [[Nuclear weapons and the United States|United States]]
| [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Bombing]] of [[Hiroshima]], [[Japan]], first detonation of a uranium gun-type device, first use of a nuclear device in combat.
|-
| {{Birth date|1945|08|09}}
| '''''[[Fat Man]]'''''
| {{sort|20.5|18–23}}
| [[Nuclear weapons and the United States|United States]]
| [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Bombing]] of [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]], [[Japan]], second detonation of a plutonium implosion device (the first being the Trinity Test), second and last use of a nuclear device in combat.
|-
| {{Birth date|1949|08|29}}
| '''''[[RDS-1]]'''''
| 22
| [[Soviet atomic bomb project|Soviet Union]]
| First fission-weapon test by the Soviet Union.
|-
| {{Birth date|1951|05|08}}
| '''''[[Operation Greenhouse|George]]'''''
| 225
| [[Nuclear weapons and the United States|United States]]
| First boosted nuclear weapon test, first weapon test to employ fusion in any measure.
|-
| {{Birth date|1952|10|03}}
| '''''[[Operation Hurricane|Hurricane]]'''''
| 25
| {{nowrap|[[Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]]}}
| First fission weapon test by the United Kingdom.
|-
| {{Birth date|1952|11|01}}
| '''''[[Ivy Mike]]'''''
| 10,400
| [[Nuclear weapons and the United States|United States]]
| First "[[Nuclear_weapon_design#Two-stage_thermonuclear_weapons|staged]]" thermonuclear weapon, with cryogenic fusion fuel, primarily a test device and not weaponized.
|-
| {{nowrap|{{Birth date|1952|11|16}}}}
| '''''[[Ivy King]]'''''
| 500
| [[Nuclear weapons and the United States|United States]]
| Largest pure-fission weapon ever tested.
|-
| {{Birth date|1953|08|12}}
| '''''[[RDS-6s]]'''''
| 400
| [[Soviet atomic bomb project|Soviet Union]]
| First fusion-weapon test by the Soviet Union (not "staged").
|-
| {{Birth date|1954|03|01}}
| '''''[[Castle Bravo]]'''''
| 15,000
| [[Nuclear weapons and the United States|United States]]
| First "staged" thermonuclear weapon using dry fusion fuel. A serious [[nuclear fallout]] accident occurred. Largest nuclear detonation conducted by United States.
|-
| {{Birth date|1955|11|22}}
| '''''[[RDS-37]]'''''
| 1,600
| [[Soviet atomic bomb project|Soviet Union]]
| First "staged" thermonuclear weapon test by the Soviet Union (deployable).
|-
| {{Birth date|1957|05|31}}
| '''''[[Orange Herald]]'''''
| 720
| [[Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]]
| Largest boosted fission weapon ever tested. Intended as a fallback "in megaton range" in case British thermonuclear development failed.
|-
| {{Birth date|1957|11|08}}
| '''''[[Operation Grapple#Grapple X|Grapple X]]'''''
| 1,800
| [[Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]]
| First (successful) "staged" thermonuclear weapon test by the United Kingdom
|-
| {{Birth date|1960|02|13}}
| {{nowrap|'''''[[Gerboise Bleue]]'''''}}
| 70
| [[France and weapons of mass destruction|France]]
| First fission weapon test by France.
|-
| {{Birth date|1961|10|31}}
| '''''[[Tsar Bomba]]'''''
| 50,000
| [[Soviet atomic bomb project|Soviet Union]]
| Largest thermonuclear weapon ever tested—scaled down from its initial 100&nbsp;Mt design by 50%.
|-
| {{Birth date|1964|10|16}}
| '''''[[596 (nuclear test)|596]]'''''
| 22
| [[People's Republic of China and weapons of mass destruction|China]]
| First fission-weapon test by the People's Republic of China.
|-
| {{Birth date|1967|06|17}}
| '''''[[Chinese nuclear test No. 6|Test No. 6]]'''''
| 3,300
| [[People's Republic of China and weapons of mass destruction|China]]
| First "staged" thermonuclear weapon test by the People's Republic of China.
|-
| {{Birth date|1968|08|24}}
| '''''[[Canopus (nuclear test)|Canopus]]'''''
| 2,600
| [[France and weapons of mass destruction|France]]
| First "staged" thermonuclear weapon test by France
|-
| {{Birth date|1974|05|18}}
| {{nowrap|'''''[[Smiling Buddha]]'''''}}
| 12
| [[India and weapons of mass destruction|India]]
| First fission nuclear explosive test by India.
|-
| {{Birth date|1998|05|11}}
| '''''[[Pokhran-II]]'''''
| 45–50
| [[India and weapons of mass destruction|India]]
| First potential fusion-boosted weapon test by India; first deployable fission weapon test by India.
|-
| {{Birth date|1998|05|28}}
| '''''[[Chagai-I]]'''''
| 40
| [[Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction|Pakistan]]
| First fission weapon (boosted) test by Pakistan<ref name=pakfas>{{Cite web |title=Pakistan Nuclear Weapons: A Brief History of Pakistan's Nuclear Program |url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/pakistan/nuke/ |publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists]] |date=11 December 2002 |access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref>
|-
| {{Birth date|2006|10|09}}
| '''''{{nowrap|[[2006 North Korean nuclear test|2006 nuclear test]]}}'''''
| {{sort|0.5|under 1}}
| {{nowrap|[[North Korea and weapons of mass destruction|North Korea]]}}
| First fission-weapon test by North Korea (plutonium-based).
|-
| {{Birth date|2017|09|03}}
| '''''{{nowrap|[[2017 North Korean nuclear test|2017 nuclear test]]}}'''''
| {{sort|110|200–300}}
| {{nowrap|[[North Korea and weapons of mass destruction|North Korea]]}}
| First "staged" thermonuclear weapon test claimed by North Korea.
|}

;Note
* "Staged" refers to whether it was a "true" [[thermonuclear weapon]] of the so-called [[Teller–Ulam]] configuration or simply a form of a [[boosted fission weapon]]. For a more complete list of nuclear test series, see [[List of nuclear tests]]. Some exact yield estimates, such as that of the [[Tsar Bomba]] and the tests by India and Pakistan in 1998, are somewhat contested among specialists.