[Lee Stewart]

More than half a century ago this week, the United States conducted its only farm-to-table nuclear missile test. The test, code-named “Frigate Bird,” involved the launch of a Polaris missile from a submarine carrying a live nuclear warhead. The missile traveled a thousand miles before streaking down on an uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, exploding with the force of 37 Hiroshima bombs.

The United States conducted a staggering 1,030 nuclear weapon tests between 1945 and 1992, the year it ceased testing. The Frigate Bird test, which took place on May 6th, 1962 was the only case in the entire history of the US nuclear arsenal in which a nuclear missile actually delivered its horrifically lethal payload.