Chronology of Radiation Science 400 B.C. Democritus proclaims all material things are made of tiny particles, which he calls “atoms” 1789 Martin Klaproth

Chronology of Radiation ScienceChronology of Radiation Science

400 B.C. Democritus proclaims all material things are made of tiny particles, which he calls “atoms”

1789 Martin Klaproth discovers uranium (Germany)

1869 Dmitri Mendeleyeev develops the Periodic Table

1895Wilhelm Roentgen discovers X-rays (Germany)


1896 Henri Becquerel discovers some atoms give off energy in the form of rays (France)

1898 Marie and Pierre Curie discover radium (France)The term “radioactivity” is first used (Marie Curie)

1899Ernest Rutherford classifies alpha and beta “rays”

1900Pierre Curie observes gamma rays


1905 Albert Einstein publishes the Special Theory of Relativity, equating mass and energy (E = mc2)

1905 First food irradiation patents issued (US & Europe)

1911Ernest Rutherford identifies the atomic nucleus

1911George de Hevesy credited with first use of radioisotope tracers


1913 Neils Bohr develops the theory of atomic structure

1913Hans Geiger invents the Geiger counter

1920Ernest Rutherford discovers and names the proton

1927First use of radioactive tracer to diagnose heart disease (Herman Blumgart at Boston City Hospital)


1932 James Chadwick discovers the neutron

Early 1930sThe first artificial radioactive isotopes are created (Irene Joliot-Curie and her husband Frederic)

1938Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman produce lighter elements by bombarding uranium with neutrons

Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch recognize the Hahn-Strassman results as nuclear fission


1942 First self-sustaining fission chain reaction produced (Enrico Fermi, et al., December 2, Chicago)

1945First atomic bomb detonated

1951First significant electric power generated from nuclear energy (100 kw, Arco, Idaho)

1954First nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, goes to sea (Groton, CT)


1956 First full-scale nuclear power plant begins operation (Calder Hall, England)

1957First US commercial nuclear power plant begins operation (Shippingport,PA)

1961First radioisotope-powered remote weather station installed, 700 miles from the North Pole


1965 First commercial nuclear power plant in Michigan begins operation (Big Rock Point, Charlevoix)

1965World’s first commercial irradiation plant for food processing commissioned in Canada

1966First commercial liquid metal fast breeder nuclear power plant begins operation (Fermi I, Monroe)


1973 X-ray scanners mandated for use at US airports

1979Nuclear plant accident at Three Mile Island, PA

1983Powered by a nuclear generator, Pioneer 10 becomes the first human-made object to leave the solar system, 11 years after launch

1984 Nuclear power becomes the second-largest producer of electric power in the US (after coal)


1986100th US commercial nuclear power plant begins operation (Perry-1, near Cleveland)

1986 Nuclear plant accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine

1992First U.S. commercial food irradiation plant ships irradiated strawberries to 5 states and 2 foreign countries

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Chronology of Radiation Science 400 B.C. Democritus proclaims all material things are made of tiny particles, which he calls “atoms” 1789 Martin Klaproth