The nuclear age.

• Position: Chronology

1704

Isaac Newton proposes a mechanical universe with small solid massed in motion

1874

G J Stoney proposes that electricity is made of discrete negative particles he calls "electrons"

1898

Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium and polonium, the elements that constitute most of the radio-activity in uranium are

1900

Max Planck develops quantum theory, which explains matter and energy at the subatomic level

1902

Ernest Rutherford and Frederick Soddy publish their theory of radioactive decay

1913

Niels Bohr publishes theory of atomic structure combining nuclear theory with quantum theory

1914

HG Wells publishes "The World Set Free", in which an atomic war in 1956 destroys major cities of the world

1923

Supporting Einstein's theory, de Broglie discovers that electrons have a dual nature-as particles and waves

1930

Erwin Schrodinger views electrons as continuous clouds and introduces "wave mechanics"

1932

James Chadwick proves the existence of neutrons

1934

Enrico Fermi irradiates uranium with neutrons and unknowingly achieves the world's first nuclear fission

January 26 Niels Bohr announces discovery of fission

1939

September 1 Nazi Germany invades Poland. World War II begins

January 29 Upon hearing of discovery of fission, Robert Oppenheimer immediately grasps the possibility of atomic bombs

September 1

Nazi Germany invades Poland. World War II begins

1941

The day before Pearl Harbor bombing, President Roosevelt authorizes the Manhattan Project

1942

Enrico Fermi and his team at the University of Chicago produce the world's first controlled and sustained nuclear fission reaction

1944

Joseph Rotblat resigns from the Manhattan Project since he believed that Nazi Germany would not succeed in developing anatomic weapon

May 8

War in Europe ends

July 16

World's first atomic detonation. Trinity, yields 19 kilotons

August 6

Little Boy, 15 kilotons, is detonated 1,900 feet above Hiroshima. Some 90,000 to 100,000 persons are killed immediately

1945

August 9

At 9:44 am, Bockscar, a B-29 carrying Fat Man, arrives at its primary target, Kokura. The city is covered in haze and smoke from an American bombing raid on a nearby city. Bockscar bombs secondary target Nagasaki at 11:02 am

December 19

India begins nuclear research at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

1946

January 10

UN General Assembly holds its opening session in Central Hall, Westminster

January 24

UN General Assembly establishes an Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)

July 1

US begins nuclear weapons testing at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific

1947

August UK's first atomic reactor at Harwell begins operation

1949

August 29

USSR detonates its first atomic bomb, (10-20 kilo-tons) at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan

January 11

UN abolishes the AEC and establishes the Disarmament Commission in its place

1952

October 3

UK conducts its first nuclear-weapons test

November 1

US detonates the first hydrogen bomb, 10.4 megaton, Mike

1953

December 8

President Dwight Eisenhower, in a UN address, proposes Atoms for Peace

1955

July 9

The Russell-Einstein Manifesto is issued, which addresses the dangers of thermonuclear weapons

August 8

An International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy takes place in Geneva

1956

July 1

USSR begins operation of the world's first 5 megawatt nuclear power station

August 27

World's first 50 megawatt nuclear power plant begins operation in UK

May 15

UK tests its first thermonuclear weapon at the Christmas Islands in the Pacific

May 25

The Rome Treaties establish the European Atomic Energy Community

1957

July 2

The first conference of the Pugwash Movement is held in Nova Scotia to discuss social responsibility and disarmament

July 29

UN establishes the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

November 8

UK successfully tests its first hydrogen-fusion weapon

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