Answer: Megadeth

Mention the word “megadeath” today and most people think of the heavy metal band with said moniker. Mention megadeath sixty years ago, however, and you would call to mind the specter of nuclear holocaust.

The term megadeath was coined by nuclear scientists, researchers, and military strategists seeking to create a term to capture the sheer scale of deaths that would follow a nuclear attack. A megadeath was defined as one million deaths directly resulting from a nuclear explosion.

When the band Megadeath formed in 1983, they lifted the name from a political pamphlet talking about nuclear disarmament–a fitting start for a band that would later be known for highly political songs digging at the military-industrial complex and global war machines.