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Neutron is Discovered
The exsistence of neutrons is discoverd by Sir James Chadwick -
Leo Szilard generates the idea of an atomic bomb
More than six years before the discovery of fission, Leo Szilard comes up with of creating an atomic bomb with a controlled release of atomic power through a multiplying neutron chain reaction. -
Leo Szilard patents his idea of an atomic bomb.
Leo Szilard files a patent application for the atomic bomb, the patent was granted and thus making him the legal inventor of the atomic bomb. -
British War Office accepts Mr. Szilard's deal to keep the atomic bomb a secret
Mr. Szilard did not want to patent the idea for himself, but to keep the atomic bomb away from the wrong hands. So he gave the idea away to the British military for free so they could keep it a secret. -
Nuclear Fission is discovered
Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann are the first scientists to officially acknoledge nuclear fission by splitting a uranium atom. -
Robert Oppenheimer realizes the possibility of building an atomic bomb
After the discovery of fission in 1938, Oppenheimer saw that with the excess neutrons formed by fission it was possible to build a bomb. -
NIels Bohr discovers crucial insight on the principles of fission
Bohr discovers that U-238 could be fissioned by fast neutrons but not slow ones, and that U-235 accounted for observed slow fission in uranium. -
Fermi and Herbert Anderson determine that there are about two neutrons produced for every one consumed in fission
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Szilard comes up with the idea of using graphite to make a chain reaction
Szilard writes to Fermi describing the idea of using a uranium lattice in carbon (graphite) to create a chain reaction. This is the first proposal of the graphite moderated reactor concept. -
Bohr and John A. Wheeler publish a theoretical analysis of fission
This theory implies U-235 is more fissile than U-238, and that the undiscovered element 94-239 is also very fissile. These implications are not immediately recognized though. -
Start of WWII
Germany invades Poland. -
The Einstein Letter
Leo Szilard and Albert Einstein work together to write a letter informing FDR of the possibliblity of the construction of nuclear weapons. -
Possibility of fast fission and ideas for bomb design
Physicists Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls, living in the UK prepared a theoretical analysis of the possibility of fast fission in U-235. They also begin to generate ideas for bomb design, this becomes the roadmap for fission weapon development. -
Plutonium
Glenn Seaborg and Arthur Wahl discover plutonium -
Plutonium is found to be extremly fissle
Plutonium was demostrated to be a superior fissle material -
Creation of the Manhattan Project
The Manhattan project is started after Col. Leslie Richard Groves was notified at 10:30 a.m. by Gen. Brehon Somervell that his assignment overseas had been cancelled. Col. Leslie took complete charge over the project afterwards. -
Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer is asked to head Project Y
Project Y is now being headed by Dr. J Oppenheimer. Project Y is the new central laboratory for weapon physics research and design. -
Project Y location
Los Alamos, New Mexico is decided to be chosen as the location for Project Y. -
Chicago Pile 1 Reactor built
After 17 days of round-the-clock work Fermi's group completed CP-1.This was sooner than planned. It contained 36.6 metric tons of uranium oxide, 5.6 metric tons of uranium metal, and 350 metric tons of graphite. -
Chicago Pile 1 goes critical
CP-1 went critical and was allowed to reach a thermal output of 0.5 watts. It was operated until a maximum power level of 200 watts. -
Trinity Test
This was the first live test of an atomic bomb. THe bomb was nicknamed Gadget.It caused an 18.9 Kt explosion. -
Little Boy
The first atomic bomb to be used in war. Little boy was dropped on Hiroshima. -
Fat Man
Was the second bomb to be used in warfare. It was dropped over Nagasaki. -
Japan surrenders
Japan surrenders WWII after the droppings of two atomic bombs