Tsar Bomba, Soviet thermonuclear bomb that was detonated in a test over Novaya Zemlya island in the Arctic Ocean on October 30, 1961. The largest nuclear weapon ever set off, it produced the most powerful human-made explosion ever recorded.

On Oct. 30, 1961, the Soviet Union dropped the most powerful nuclear weapon ever exploded on the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, north of the arctic circle. Yielding an explosion of 50 megatons the "Tsar Bomba," as it is sometimes called, was about 3,300 times more powerful than the 15 kilotons nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima.

The Tsar Bomba, or RDS-220 hydrogen bomb, is the largest nuclear bomb in the world today. This astounding thermonuclear bomb was created by the USSR with the goal of creating the largest nuclear weapon in the world, and it still holds the record for the most powerful explosive ever detonated.

The RDS-220 hydrogen bomb, also known as the Tsar Bomba, is the biggest and most powerful thermo nuclear bomb ever made. It was exploded by the Soviet Union on 30 October 1961 over Novaya Zemlya Island in the Russian Arctic Sea.