1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Hello everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: know that you're going to be hearing two different events 3 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: in history in this episode, one from me and one 4 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: from Tracy V. Wilson. They're both good, if I do 5 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: say so myself. One with the show, Welcome to this 6 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,319 Speaker 1: Day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com 7 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: and from the desk of Stuff you Missed in History Class. 8 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,280 Speaker 1: It's the show where we explore the past, one day 9 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: at a time with a quick look at what happened 10 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 11 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson, and it's November six. The United Nations 12 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: condemned apartheid on this day in nineteen sixty two and 13 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:41,560 Speaker 1: also requested that you in member states cut off relations 14 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: with South Africa. I talked a bit about apartheid back 15 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: in October when we talked about the birth of Archbishop 16 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: Desmond to two. Segregation had existed in South Africa way 17 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: before this point, but the formalized system of apartheid, which 18 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: comes from the Afrikaans word for a partners, really started 19 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty. The National Party had come to power 20 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: in South Africa in nineteen forty eight and they had 21 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: passed laws like the Population Registration Act of nineteen fifty. 22 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: This act started off by sorting everybody in South Africa 23 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: into three categories. They were the Black Africans and who 24 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:21,919 Speaker 1: people who were described as colored or multi racial and white. 25 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: As a result of these laws, there were many of them. 26 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: South Africa's minority white population had all the political power 27 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: and the most advantageous places to live and work, and 28 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: virtually all of South Africa's land and wealth. There had, 29 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: of course, been lots of resistance to racism and segregation 30 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: and discrimination in South Africa way before these laws were passed, 31 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: but after the laws were passed, that resistance became a 32 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: lot more formalized, and then international criticism started really quickly 33 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: as soon as the National Party came to power. Criticism 34 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: really escalated after a massacre in nineteen sixty which happened 35 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: in Sharpville, which is near Johannesburg, South Africa. About seven 36 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: thousand protesters had arrived at a police station on March one. 37 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: They were protesting against these discriminatory laws, and although this 38 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: protest was completely non violent, the police responded with force 39 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: and killed at least sixty nine Africans and entered a 40 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: hundred and eighty six people. Most of the people who 41 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: were killed in this massacre were actually shot in the back. 42 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: In this resolution that the United Nations passed in nineteen 43 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 1: sixty two, the General Assembly stated that it deplored the 44 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: South African government's flagrant failure to comply with international requests 45 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: and demands to end these racist policies, and the United 46 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: Nations also requested that Member States break off diplomatic relationships 47 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: with South Africa, closed their ports to any vessels that 48 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: were flying with South African flag, prohibit their own ships 49 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: from entering South African ports, boycott South African goods, and 50 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: refused the landing of South African aircraft. These were a 51 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: lot of steps that the U n was requesting that 52 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 1: the Member States take. The United Nations also established the 53 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid at the same time, 54 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: which started reviewing South Africa's apartheid policies in nineteen sixty three, 55 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: so this resolution was not at all the first time 56 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: the United Nations was looking at racism and apartheid in 57 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: South Africa. The government of India had asked the UN 58 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: to look at the treatment of Indians in South Africa 59 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 1: back in nineteen forty six. The u N didn't adopt 60 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: a resolution after that request, but India raised the question 61 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: again in nineteen forty eight, describing South Africa's treatment of 62 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: its non white residents at that time as apartheid. In 63 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four, another resolution noted that quote the policy 64 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: of apartheid constitutes a grave threat to the peaceful relations 65 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: between ethnic groups in the world. More u N resolutions followed, 66 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: leading up to that one in nineteen sixty two that 67 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: requested that the UN Member States take action against South Africa. 68 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: South Africa continued to uphold apartheid, though, and other u 69 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: N resolutions followed, including one that labeled apartheid as a 70 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: crime against humanity in nineteen seventy three. South Africa was 71 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,000 Speaker 1: suspended from the United Nations General Assembly in nineteen seventy 72 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:25,599 Speaker 1: four and finally began repealing it's apartheid laws in Thanks 73 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: to Eves Jeff Cope for her research work on this podcast, 74 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: and thanks to Casey Pigraham and Chandler Mays for their 75 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: audio work on the show. You can subscribe to This 76 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: Day in History Class on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, and 77 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,280 Speaker 1: where ever else you get your podcasts and you can 78 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: tune in tomorrow for the start of a revolution. Hello everyone, 79 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,159 Speaker 1: I'm Eve's welcome to this day in History class, where 80 00:04:55,200 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: we take a tiny bite of history every day. The 81 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: day was November six, nineteen forty four. Weapons gray plutonium 82 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: was created for the first time at the Hanford Site, 83 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 1: a nuclear production complex in the state of Washington. The 84 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: Manhattan Project was a US government research and development project 85 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: to produce the first atomic weapons. One of the missions 86 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: of the Manhattan Project was the development of weapons gray plutonium. 87 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,359 Speaker 1: Plutonium was first produced in isolated in December of nineteen 88 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:37,039 Speaker 1: forty by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley. The 89 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: team sent an article describing the discovery to a scientific 90 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: journal for publication, but the paper was withdrawn when it 91 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: was found that the element could be used in atomic bombs. 92 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: The discovery wasn't published until after World War Two ended. Hanford, Washington, 93 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: was chosen as an ideal location for a full scale 94 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: plutonium facility because it was relatively remote, had hydro electric 95 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: power from the Grand Coolie and Bonneville Dams, and the flat, 96 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: rocky terrain was good for supporting the production buildings. The 97 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: Handford Engineer Works code named site W was built by 98 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 1: the DuPont Company. Residents in Hanford, White Bluffs and Richland, 99 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: including Native American people's, were evacuated from the area with 100 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,280 Speaker 1: short notice. The thousands of employees at the site knew 101 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: they were doing war work, but few were aware that 102 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: they were working on nuclear weapons. Three nuclear reactors or 103 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: piles were built at Hanford. Their purpose was to produce 104 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: plutonium from uranium. The B reactor was the first production 105 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: scale nuclear reactor. Its design was based on physicists in 106 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: Rico Fermi's experimental reactor at the Chicago met Lab Chicago 107 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: Pile one and the ex Tan graphite reactor in oak Ridge, Tennessee, 108 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: that began producing plutonium in late nineteen forty three. B 109 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: reactor went online in September of nineteen forty four, and 110 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: it produced its first plutonium on November six. D reactor 111 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: went online in December, and F reactor went online in 112 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: February of nineteen forty five. Each of the three reactors 113 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: needed at least one ton of uranium to produce just 114 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: two grams of plutonium. Un Irradiated fuel elements were irradiated 115 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: in reactors, then a radiated fuel was cooled and sent 116 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: by rail to chemical separation plants known as canyons or 117 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: Queen Mary's. After the separation and concentration process, plutonium nitrate 118 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: past was stored and then shipped to Las Alamos, New Mexico, 119 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: where a secret lab for the Manhattan Project was located. 120 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: In February of nineteen forty five, the first shipment of 121 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: plutonium was sent to Los Alamos, where the plutonium nitrate 122 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: was converted to metallic plutonium. Plutonium from the B reactor 123 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: was used in the Trinity Test, the first detonation of 124 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: a nuclear device, which was conducted at the Alama Gorda 125 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: Bombing and Gunnery Range. Whotonium from the B reactor was 126 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: also used in fat Man, the bomb dropped over Nagasaki. 127 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: By December of nineteen forty six, employment at the site 128 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: was down to around five thousand people. After World War 129 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: Two was over and the Cold War ramped up, more 130 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: reactors and plutonium processing complexes were added at Hanford. The 131 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: site produced most of the plutonium used in US nuclear weapons. 132 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: Most of the nuclear reactors at Hanford shut down between 133 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty four and nineteen seventy one, but one reactor 134 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: remained in use until nineteen eighty seven. This last reactor 135 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: and reactor was a power reactor for electricity and a 136 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: plutonium production reactor for nuclear weapons. The U. S Department 137 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: of Energy has controlled the Hanford site since nineteen seventy seven. 138 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighty nine, the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection 139 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology entered into an 140 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 1: agreement for a cleanup at Hanford, which produced a lot 141 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: of nuclear waste. There is still controversy surrounding leaks and 142 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: contaminated waste at the site. I'm Eve step Coote and 143 00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 144 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. Give us a shout or a share 145 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: on social media at t d i h C podcast 146 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: and if you would like to write me a letter, 147 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: you can scan it, turn it into a PDF, and 148 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: send it to us via email at this Day at 149 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: i heeart media dot com. Thanks for listening. We'll see 150 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: you again tomorrow with another episode. For more podcasts from 151 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: I Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 152 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.