Relics of the nuclear arms race

BBC NEWS | Programmes | From Our Own Correspondent | Relics of the nuclear arms race: "The unlikely gateway to America's nuclear past is Las Vegas - the desert community just 60 miles from the Nevada test site.

I say 'unlikely' because few today are aware that in the 50s and 60s - when Las Vegas itself was searching for its own road to riches, and casinos were not the money-for-old-rope, mega operations they are today - the city fathers cashed in on the seismic bangs that regularly broke their windows.

Unused to the first earthquake-like shockwaves, gamblers took cover beneath roulette tables when the chandeliers shook."

This is an interesting article, passed on to me by Scott Cupp, and I'm reminded of a book I read recently, Richard Rayner's The Devil's Wind. I'll have to report on that soon.