By 1942, the United States was in the midst of war and needed to step up its research on making the atom bomb. The "Manhattan Project" brought together the greatest minds in science to discover how to harness the power of an atom. On July 16, 1945, the first bomb was successfully tested at an air base in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The original target was Germany but since the country had already surrendered, Japan became the logical mark.