A historical error has been found in Christopher Nolan’s new historical thriller Oppenheimer.
“During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. (Matt Damon) appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project,” reads the synopsis. “Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world’s first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history.”
Fans recently discovered a historical error in a scene shortly after the end of World War II when Oppenheimer gives a speech. In the scene, people in the crowd wave around 50-star American flags. However, in 1945, the American flag only had 48 stars, as Hawaii and Alaska had not yet joined the country as states.
It is easy to tell this is the wrong flag because a 48-star flag has six even rows of eight stars, while the 50-star flag alternates between uneven rows of six and five stars.
Who is in the Oppenheimer cast?
The cast includes Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett, Kenneth Branagh, Dane DeHaan, Alden Ehrenreich, Matthew Modine, Jack Quaid, David Dastmalachian, Jason Clarke, Josh Peck, Devon Bostick, Gary Oldman, and Casey Affleck.
It is now playing in theaters.
