Oppenheimer - The Movie & The Facts

Dec 05, 2023

Oak Dowling

During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appointed physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world's first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history.

Oppenheimer's path toward the atomic bomb and his subsequent feelings about its use are both riveting and devastating. Here is what to know about the real events that inspired the Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer, including his personal life, work with the Manhattan Project and Communist investigations.