Yes, it's amazing and I look up this stuff from time to time, but (and forgive me if I'm being obtuse and missing the point of HN) why is this standard wikipedia page hacker news?

The plane that dropped this bomb would be a larger weapon given a plane can be used as a weapon. Along the same lines aircraft carriers would be the largest weapons I could think of. Though many countries have dabbled into weather modification, then there are gas and other chemical weapons. So is it largest based upon volume or size or weight or it being 100% dedicated weapon? Another historical example beyond those large train driven guns the germans made would be during World War One in which it was common to dig a large tunnel under the enemy fortifications and place tons and tons of explosives under the enemy in which you would eventualy set of blowing up the enemy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_(1917) being a very interesting read in itself involving hundreds of tonnes of explosives. Though like landmines not all got set off and case here http://rense.com/general47/50000lbWW1bomb.htm about a 50,000 lbs bomb (22.6796 metric ton), which is still lighter than this Tsar Bomba. Though more background upon such explosive type bombs can be gleamed here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnelling_companies_of_the_Roy... and mention is made of a of a far heavier:

""As preparation for the attack, six mines were detonated on 27 March 1916. The largest of these was at St Eloi, dug by the 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company, consisting of 95,600 pounds (43,400 kg) of explosive. This allowed the capture of St Eloi by the British 41st Division.[20] This choice reduced the total explosive to 450 tonnes. The evening before the attack, General Plumer remarked to his staff, "Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography." ""

So personaly I'd not say it was the largest or is the largest weapon ever made. But certainly the most scariest.

Largest is indeed a misnomer. It is the most powerful.

> Designer Julii Borisovich Khariton, Andrei Sakharov, Victor Adamsky, Yuri Babayev, Yuri Smirnov, and Yuri Trutnev

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Sakharov

Fortunately for a USAF crew the detonation yield was somewhat less than the Soviets planned; a KC-135 had been modified under the Big Safari programme to obtain intel, but strayed so close that the airframe suffered scorching!

One fortunate crew counted their blessings that day...

And irony here is that one of the guys, who were developing this thing, was awarded Nobel Peace Prize later.