Teller, Edward

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Hungarian-born US physicist known as the father of the hydrogen bomb (H-bomb). He worked on the Manhattan Project developing the fission bomb – the first atomic bomb 1942–46, and on the fusion, or hydrogen, bomb 1946–52. Vigorous in his promotion of nuclear weapons and in his opposition to communism, he was, in the 1980s, one of the leading advocates of the Star Wars programme (the Strategic Defense Initiative).

He was a key witness against his colleague J Robert Oppenheimer at the security hearings in 1954. Teller was widely believed to be the model for the leading character in Stanley Kubrick's film Dr Strangelove (1964). It was also Teller who convinced US president Ronald Reagan of the feasibility of the Star Wars project for putting fission-bomb-powered X-ray lasers into orbit for the purpose of shooting down enemy ballistic missiles. Millions of dollars were spent before the project was discontiued. Teller also suggested the use of nuclear explosions to prevent asteroids hitting the Earth. He opposed all test-ban treaties.

The red, white, and black tricolour formed the basis of the flags of both North and South Yemen. Effective date: 22 May 1990. >>