The Nevada Test Site didn’t waste any time.

President Harry Truman established the site, a 680-square-mile section of the Nellis Air Force Gunnery and Bombing Range, on Dec. 18, 1950.

Less than six weeks later, a 1-kiloton device, equivalent to 1,000 tons of TNT, was dropped from an Air Force B-50 bomber.

It was the first of 928 nuclear tests, 100 of them above ground, at what was originally known as the Nevada Proving Grounds and is now referred to as the Nevada National Security Site.

We asked the Atomic Museum’s Joe Kent, deputy director and curator, and Matt Malinowski, director of education, about the most significant blasts at the test site.

Here are five of their picks, with the series name followed by the test name, along with how the Review-Journal covered them.

Ranger/Able

Date: Jan. 27, 1951

What it was: This was the first atomic test in the continental U.S. since the Manhattan Project’s Trinity test on July 16, 1945.

“It was very much, ‘OK, let’s get started. Let’s see how it goes,’ ” Kent said.

How we covered it: “Roulette wheels and dice tables, which operate 24 hours a day here, were still doing a brisk business when the blast went off around 5 a.m.,” we wrote.

“In the Golden Nugget, a man standing at one of the craps tables felt the shock. He paused and looked around.

“ ‘Must be an A-bomb,’ he said. He turned back to the table and went on with the game.”

Local insurance agent O.A. Kimball said one of his clients called before dawn to tell him the plaster on her walls and ceiling were cracked by the explosion.

“ ‘The doors really played a tune when the thing went off,’ Kimball reported her as saying, ‘and I was afraid for a few minutes the house would fall down.’ ”

Upshot-Knothole/Harry

Date: May 19, 1953

What it was: This 32-kiloton test became known as “Dirty Harry” when the fallout, which was intended to land between Alamo and Glendale, was blown downwind into St. George, Utah.

“That’s probably the quintessential test that is tied to the downwinder movement,” Kent said of the presumed victims of the blast who were exposed to radiation.

How we covered it: “The cloud, which was barely visible in Las Vegas because of the overcast, gray dawn, traveled in an east-southeast direction and the atomic energy commission (sic) established highway checkpoints on Highways 91 and 93 to warn motorists of the possibility of radioactive fallout.

“The checkpoints were established at St. George, Alamo, Glendale and Nellis air force base (sic) and were a precautionary measure. No hazardous levels of radioactivity were reported.”

The next day, we checked in on St. George.

“Having an atomic cloud hover over their town caused little concern to the men, women and children who live in St. George, Utah, who kept indoors several hours yesterday after atomic energy commission officials reported that there would be some fallout there after yesterday morning’s shot.”

St. George resident Dick Hammer estimated between 30 and 40 people, most of them tourists, were in his Dick’s Cafe when the word that people should remain indoors came over the radio. One woman, he said, wondered what would happen to them.

“ ‘Hell, lady, I don’t know,’ Hammer replied, ‘but I don’t think you have much to worry about.’ ”

Teapot/Apple 2

Date: May 5, 1955

What it was: This was the second of “two highly publicized civil effects tests just to see what would happen to a small town,” Kent said. “What would be the concerns if the town was hit with one of these bombs.”

It’s also the test that inspired the scene in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” in which Indy rides out a nuclear blast in a refrigerator.

A 29-kiloton device was dropped from a 500-foot tower near Doom Town, the symbolic burgh made up of fully furnished homes, a radio station, a gas station and other signs of civilization, with mannequins representing the residents.

How we covered it: “A fearsome nuclear weapon bludgeoned this guinea-pig city today while the civil defense teams staged a dress rehearsal of their possible roles in the atomic age.

“Dummies dressed as men, women and children were grouped under the atom’s devastating might in an experiment to determine how families in an American target city might survive the fury of nuclear warfare.”

The blast was described as “a spectacular orange, blue and purple fireball.”

The next day, officials got a full look at the damage.

“Death and serious injury struck the dummy men, women and children of Doomsday Drive, the little dirt road lying only 4,700 feet from ground zero,” we wrote.

“A mannequin mother died horribly in her one-story home of pre-cast concrete slabs. Portions of her plaster-and-paint body were found in three different areas. A mannequin tot, perhaps the size of your 3-year-old, was blown out of bed and showered with needle-sharp glass fragments. This house withstood the blast, but its occupants may not have.”

Plumbbob/Hood

Date: July 5, 1957

What it was: A 74-kiloton thermonuclear device was dropped from a balloon, sending an atomic cloud 49,000 feet into the air, as part of the largest above-ground test at the site. The test is featured in the Atomic Museum’s Ground Zero Theater.

It also was part of the Desert Rock exercises, essentially war games designed to test how members of the military would perform during an atomic war.

“They would have these exercises along with the blasts,” Malinowski said. “So the troops would be put into foxholes or trenches, told to stay down low, not to look directly at the light while it was going off.”

How we covered it: “Nuclear scientists this morning fired the largest atomic blast ever to be detonated in the continental United States and the resulting explosion caused veteran observers 13 miles from ground zero to gasp with awe at its terrible immensity.

“The flash and fulminating fireball caused joshua (sic) trees and yucca plants near zero to burst into flames, making the desert floor resemble a flaming city.”

Elsewhere in that edition, it was reported that “a United Airlines pilot flying from Honolulu to Los Angeles radioed that he saw the light of the Nevada blast as his plane cruised 1,000 miles off the California coast.” A bright flash was reported in San Francisco, while residents in Hollywood, Anaheim and Newport Beach reported feeling “two jarring shocks” at 5:05 a.m., 25 minutes after the detonation.

Julin/Divider

Date: Sept. 23, 1992

What it was: This underground vertical shaft test of less than 20 kilotons proved to be the final full-scale test at the site. It wasn’t designed to be, but a nine-month testing moratorium went into effect on Oct. 1. The next year, it was extended indefinitely.

“They still do subcritical testing on the weapons stockpile out there,” Malinowski said. “So even though they’re not doing full-scale detonations, there are experiments they do to kind of verify that the stockpile is still well-maintained and active.”

How we covered it: “The United States conducted its sixth nuclear weapons test of the year Wednesday at the Nevada Test Site, five days after the last one, while four Belgian anti-nuclear activists hid within a mile or two of ground zero, U.S. authorities said.

“The four — three men and a woman — said they feared for their safety as Department of Energy scientists began counting down the last five minutes prior to the 8:04 a.m. detonation, prompting them to flee on bicycles to a safer location, some three miles from ground zero.”

They were arrested there about an hour later.

“I was kind of scared,” said Michiel De Grande, 25, outside the Foley Federal Building after he was ordered to appear the next day for a hearing on federal trespass charges. “The feeling inside was real strange, the feeling of the pain of the Earth. It shook for 10 seconds. Even before the bomb exploded you could feel the Earth crying.”

Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on X.

LP Insurance Services LLC named Travis Reed to its commercial lines team in northern Nevada.

Reed has more than 10 years of industry experience, most recently as a sales executive with Alpine Insurance Associates.

He previously worked as vice president of sales at AssuredPartners and as an underwriter at Burns & Wilcox.

LP Insurance Services is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.

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The presidential election was far from the only thing being decided by Nevada voters last week. Here’s a look at some other takeaways that have emerged as the dust settled on the 2024 general.

Lombardo remains Gov. Veto

Democrats appear to have slipped further from obtaining a veto-proof supermajority, though they remain in healthy control of the Nevada State Legislature, unofficial election results show.

Going into the general election, Democrats had a supermajority in the Assembly and were one seat shy of a supermajority in the Senate.

In the Nevada State Senate, where 10 of 21 seats were up this year, the makeup will remain the same as it was going into Election Day.

Democrats successfully flipped Senate District 15. Democrat Angie Taylor, who served one term in the state Assembly, defeated Republican Mike Ginsburg for a seat formerly represented by Republican Heidi Seevers O’Gara (formerly Seevers Gansert), who opted not to run for re-election.

That gain appears to have been offset by Senate District 11. As of Monday morning, the Associated Press, which the Nevada Current uses for race projections, had not yet called the SD11 race between Democratic incumbent Dallas Harris and Republican challenger Lori Rogich. But Harris was trailing Rogich by around 850 votes.

State Sen. Carrie Buck, a Republican seen as vulnerable in competitive Senate District 5, fended off her Democratic challenger.

If current results hold, Democrats will be two seats shy of a supermajority in the upper chamber.

In the Nevada State Assembly, Republicans appear to have successfully broken the Democratic supermajority by defending their 14 seats and flipping one seat red.

Republican Rebecca Edgeworth defeated Democrat Sharifa Wahab in Assembly District 35, according to the AP. Edgeworth, who raised significantly more funding than Wahab, was part of a cadre of candidates backed by Gov. Joe Lombardo.

AD35 was previously represented by Democrat Michelle Gorelow, who opted not to run for re-election amid controversy about her ‘yes’ vote on a funding bill that benefitted a nonprofit she later took a job with.

Other competitive open seats will see new representatives but not switch parties. Republicans failed to flip Assembly District 29. There, Democrat Joe Dalia defeated Republican Annette Dawson Owens. Similarly, Democrats failed to flip Assembly District 4. There, Republican Lisa Cole defeated Democrat Ryan Hampton.

Republican Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama and Democratic Assemblywomen Elaine Marzola, Selena La Rue Hatch, and Shea Backus all successfully defended their competitive seats from challengers.

Meanwhile, Democratic Majority Floor Leader Sandra Jauregui appears to be on track to squeak out a win over Republican challenger Rafael Arroyo in Assembly District 41. The race has not been called by the AP but Jauregui is up by around 350 votes.

Jauregui’s race is one of two Assembly races the AP had not called as of Monday morning. The other, Assembly District 12, is between Democratic incumbent Max Carter and Republican challenger Nancy Roecker. Carter is up by less than 300 votes.

If current results hold, Democrats will be one seat shy of a supermajority in the Assembly.

According to Ballotpedia, Nevada is one of a dozen states with a divided government, meaning neither major political party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governorship.

Moms for Liberty headed to school board

The Clark County School Board will soon have two trustees associated with Moms for Liberty — an advocacy group known for protesting vaccine mandates, advocating against diversity equity and inclusion policies, and pushing anti-trans narratives.

Lorena Biassotti, who co-founded the Moms for Liberty Clark County chapter, and Lydia Dominguez, a former member of the chapter who left the group in the weeks before the general election, were both elected to the nonpartisan board. Both defeated former teachers — Kamilah Bywaters and Eileen Eady, respectively.

Biassotti and Dominguez will be sworn in as trustees in early January.

Joining them will be political newcomers Emily Stevens and Tameka Henry. Stevens expressed some conservative positions on educational issues like charter and private schools but is not associated with Moms for Liberty and did not campaign on cultural issues like banning books and trans athletes. Henry, a vocal critic of Moms for Liberty backed by progressive groups, ousted School Board President Evelyn Garcia Morales.

The Clark County School Board has seven voting members and four appointed members. The newly seated school board will almost immediately be thrust into the process of selecting Clark County School District’s next superintendent.

Applications for the district’s top job are being accepted until Feb. 5, according to a timeline posted by CCSD. The school board is expected to conduct its first round of interviews on Feb. 17, with semi-finalists interviewed on March 5 and the top two candidates selected on March 13.

Final interviews are scheduled for the week of March 17, with the official hiring scheduled for March 27.

Also in education…

• Biassoti and Dominguez secured victories in the general election, but a third Moms for Liberty candidate fell far short of being elected. Tim Underwood, who told the Current that his trans child’s death by suicide solidified his decision to fight trans-inclusive policies within public schools, lost to Tricia Braxton in the Nevada State Board of Education District 1.
• Danielle Ford, who served one term as a Clark County School Board trustee before losing re-election, won a seat on the State Board of Education. Ford defeated Rene Cantu in District 3. Cantu currently represents District 2 on the board but due to redistricting that took place after the last election now lives in District 3.
• Nevada Question 1, which asked voters to remove the Board of Regents from the state constitution, failed — 55% no, 45% yes.

Bad day for libraries

The Washoe County Library System is set to lose about a quarter of its current funding after voters in the county rejected a countywide ballot question there.

The library system is anticipating a $4.5 million budget cut, according to News 4, leading to the elimination of 23 staff positions, the system’s entire $1.4 million book budget, and $200,000 of the system’s technology budget in June. Libraries are likely to reduce their weekend and evening hours.

The  ‘Renew Washoe Libraries’ initiative would have continued the dedication of a small percentage of existing tax revenue to public libraries. The failure of the ballot question will not decrease what residents pay, it will simply de-obligate the money to be spent elsewhere.

The shortfall and cuts could be offset by the Washoe County Commission in its general fund budget. An online petition calling for just that is already being circulated.

Meanwhile, voters in Henderson rejected Henderson Library District Question Num. 1, which would have raised property taxes by 2 cents per $100,000 of assessed value to be used to operate and maintain libraries, as well as to build new facilities in newly developed areas of the city.

Henderson residents also rejected additional funding for firefighters.

No, yes, no, yes, yes, yes, yes

Nevada Question 3, which would have switched the state to an open primary/ranked choice system of voting, received more total votes than any of the other six statewide ballot questions, according to unofficial vote totals as of Monday morning.

This year, Question 3, which failed, was the most voted-on ballot measure, receiving more total votes than other high-profile questions on voter identification requirements and abortion rights. Question 3 received 1.372 million total votes, about 3,000 more than Question 7, the voter ID measure which passed and received 1.369 million total votes.

The Nevada State Republican Party took strong positions on both questions, opposing Question 3 and supporting Question 7.

Question 6, which proposes enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution and passed, received the third most total votes. Voters will have to approve it again in 2026 before it becomes part of the constitution.

Question 1, which sought to remove the Board of Regents from the state constitution, failed. The question, which was criticized for being confusing to voters, received the fewest number of total votes. About 55,500 fewer people voted on Question 1 than Question 3.

The remaining three ballot questions — two on removing antiquated language from the state constitution and one exempting diapers from sales tax — all passed.

Voters are not required to weigh in on every race or ballot measure, and many voters opt not to. For comparison, Nevada’s presidential race saw approximately 68,600 more total votes than the most voted-on ballot question.

Every vote matters

Only 63 votes separate incumbent North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Ruth Anderson Garcia and her challenger Robert “Twixx” Taylor in the nonpartisan race, according to unofficial election results posted by the state. That’s equivalent to about one third of 1 percent of votes.

That North Las Vegas City Council race appears to be the closest among this year’s municipal elections. However, it is larger than the 15-vote difference that separated two candidates in the nonpartisan Reno City Council Ward 1 primary earlier this year.

Nevada does not have automatic recounts, no matter how close the election results. Recounts must be requested and paid for by the candidate. They rarely, if ever, result in election results being reversed.