From 1946 until 1958, the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands was subject to nuclear tests by the United States as part of the arms race of the Cold War. One of these tests, Castle Bravo that detonated on 1 March 1954 was a devastating one. After running out of Lithium 6, scientists
used Lithium 7 to complete the shell they were creating, assuming that it would have similar properties. Their assumptions created a fireball 7km wide and a crater of 2km deep. The inhabitants were not evacuated and died as a result as did Japanese fishermen who were fishing nearby and caught radiation sickness. The explosion, which was 1000x times more powerful than Hiroshima, rendered the Bikini Atoll uninhabitable with its legacy being the namesake for a two piece swimsuit and being the inspiration for the name of the Bikini Bottom in the popular cartoon SpongeBob Squarepants.