Back in the 1950s, the U.S. was ready for nuclear war. And we mean really ready for nuclear war. Entire government departments were dedicated to working out what the country might look like after the USSR tried to end life as they knew it. 

Now, thanks to the limited shelf-life of classified documents, we're beginning to understand exactly how advanced these plans were. For instance, back in 1955, during the euphemistically named Operation Teapot, 15 nuclear bombs were detonated in the Nevadan desert to try and work out how life might continue in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion. One of these tests tried to answer the question as to what the survivors might drink. So they dropped a nuclear bomb on a fake town filled with beer and soft drinks. And then did taste tests. The full post makes for fascinating if slightly disturbing reading.