<!-- wp:html --><p>“Miss Atomic Bomb” is one of the most iconic photos from 1950s Las Vegas It was never a thing In 1951, after detonating nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II, the US began test-exploding new nuclear weapons at the Nevada Test Site, then called the Nevada Proving Ground. Because the military installation, now called the Nevada National Security Site, was only 65 miles northwest of the Las Vegas Strip, this helped create the phenomenon known as “atomic tourism.” Copa Room showgirl Lee Merlin poses in a mushroom-cloud swimsuit as “Miss Atomic Bomb.” (Image: Don English/Las Vegas News Bureau) A January 1951 detonation was the first of 100 in the air over the 1,355 square-mile plateau, which was carved out from the Nellis Air Force Gunnery and Bombing Range. Guests at the Last Frontier watch a nuclear blast, at the top of the photo, in 1953. (Image: Las Vegas News Bureau)&hellip; <a href="https://www.casino.org/news/vegas-myths-busted-there-was-a-miss-atomic-bomb-beauty-pageant/" target="_blank" class="feedzy-rss-link-icon">Read More</a></p>
<p>Category: Las Vegas, Las Vegas Myths, atomic tourism, Miss Atomic Bomb, mushroom cloud bathing suit, Nevada Test Site, nuclear bomb, testing, The Killers </p>
<p>Source: Casino.org</p><!-- /wp:html -->