SPONGEBOB Squarepants is the kids TV show that became a smash-hit global phenomenon.
But it turns out the Nickelodeon show may have a darker side, particularly when it came to the alleged inspiration.
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Spongebob is one of the most famous kids TV characters on the planet, but it turns out it could be inspired by the Cold War.
The cartoon programme is set in the fictional underwater habitat named Bikini Bottom.
But the town could be based off the real-life location Bikini Atoll where a young boy sadly died after a series of nuclear bomb tests.
24 nuclear weapons were detonated by the US between 1946 and 1958 across seven sites.
Some of the tests took place underwater and theories have emerged that the anthropomorphic sea creatures in the area are actually deformed fish that have been contaminated from the radiation.
Over 150 people were temporarily re-homed as they were forcibly evacuated from Bikini Atoll.
Other Micronesian inhabitants moved to the nearby Rongerik Atoll – which lacked food and water supplies as buildings were disassembled.
Testing drew to a close before the turn of the 1960’s and some residents chose to move back to the islands in 1987.
However, this turned into a disaster as food and water supplies were contaminated by the lingering radiation.
The essentials were so radioactive, they caused a series of health problems which included miscarriages, stillbirths and genetic abnormalities in children.
One 11-year-old boy sadly died from cancer in 1971, which is thought to be related to the exposure from radiation at Bikini Atoll.
The radiation also had a severe effect on a prominent Japanese fishing boat named Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon in English) .
It was a full 60 miles away from the Castle Bravo blast as it’s chief radio operator Aikichi Kuboyama passed away seven months after the test.
His official cause of death was from acute organ malfunction and a further 15 members of the crew also died from cancer or other radiation related causes.
Many residents and their descendants are too afraid to return to their former homes due to the high contamination levels that still remain at Bikini Atoll.
Many viewers and Spongebob fans have speculated that Bikini Bottom is based on the real-life nuclear explosions.
It was created by Stephen Hillenburg, who served as a marine biologist before he started to work in the animated sector of television.
Fans think there’s more evidence that gives credibility to the theory behind the show.
In the episode ‘Dying for Pie’, an image of the mushroom cloud from the test was used.
It has also been alleged that a script exists which includes a direct reference to Bikini Atoll.
Spongebob is known for his trouser and shirt combination, which fans suggests is just like the clothing that would have been worn at the time of the Cold War.
Operation Crossroads: A History
- From 1947 until 1991, the US and its allies were engaged in a nuclear arms race.
- This formed part of the Cold War with the Soviet Union where both nations built bigger and more advanced bombs.
- Bikini Atoll is the name of a 229-square-mile coral reef consisting of 23 islands that surround a huge lagoon that is located within the Marshall Islands.
- The first tests at the site took part in July 1946 in an extended mission that was named Operation Crossroads.
- Between 1946 and 1958, 24 nuclear weapons were detonated at seven different sites.
- These were located both above ground and underwater in the reef itself and on the sea and in the air.
- Glenn T. Seaborg was a chemist and was also the longest-serving chairman of the Atomic Energy Comission and he called the second test “the world’s first nuclear disaster”.
- One of the tests was cancelled due to concerns over radiation from one of the previous tests.
- The most infamous explosion from the second mission named Operation Castle was named Castle Bravo.
- The thermonuclear bombs remains the most powerful device ever detonated by the United States.
- It is estimated the explosion was 1,000 times more powerful than both of the atomic bombs used in World War II on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- 167 people were forcibly evacuated from the site and were temporarily re-homed
- The residents were originally told that they would be able to return to their homes after the tests were completed
- However, Bikini Atoll was later declared unfit for habitation as the soil and water was both contaminated due to radiation
- Over $300million has been paid in compensation to the islanders and their descendants through various trust funds
- In 2016, scientists found high radiation levels that were still above the safety standard
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