Los Alamos National Laboratory Company History Timeline

1943

Warner agreed to Oppenheimer’s request to serve meals exclusively to Los Alamos scientists and their families in 1943.

Since its inception in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project, Los Alamos National Laboratory's (LANL) primary mission has been nuclear weapons research and development.

1945

On July 16, 1945, the world's first atomic bomb was detonated 200 miles south of Los Alamos at Trinity Site.

The work of the laboratory culminated in several atomic devices, one of which was used in the first nuclear test near Alamogordo, New Mexico, codenamed "Trinity", on July 16, 1945.

Following the Japanese surrender on August 14, 1945, and the conclusion of World War II, the manufacture of atomic bombs continued at Los Alamos.

1954

See also In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer: Transcript of Hearing Before Personnel Security Board, Washington, D.C., April 12, 1954, Through May 6, 1954 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1954), 12-13.

1960

Oral history interview with J. Robert Oppenheimer, 1960 February.

1965

Several buildings associated with the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos were declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

1966

Oral history interview with Eugene Paul Wigner, 1966 November 30.

1967

Oral history interview with Robert Serber, 1967 February 10.

1968

Oral history interview with Felix Bloch, 1968 August 15.

1969

Oral history interview with James Chadwick, 1969 April 15, 16, 17 and 20.

In 1969, Los Alamos reported the first fluorescence detector apparatus, which accurately measured the number and size of ovarian cells and blood cells.

1972

Oral history interview with Edwin M. McMillan, 1972 June 1, 2, and October 30, 31.

1973

Oral history interview with Frank Oppenheimer, 1973 February 9 and May 21.

1975

Los Alamos lecture series tapes, 1975.

1976

Oral history interview with J. Carson Mark, 1976 June 8.

1977

Oral history interview with Kenneth Bainbridge, 1977 March 16 and 23.

1978

Oral history interview with Charles Donald Shane, 1978 July 14.

The long walk of Fred Young [videorecording] / WGBH Educational Foundation (Boston); writer and producer, Michael Barnes, 1978.

1979

Oral history interview with John P. Blewett, 1979 March 22 and May 11.

1981

Oral history interview with Roland Perry, 1981 March 13.

In 1981, the laboratory was renamed Los Alamos National Laboratory.

1982

Oral history interview with Albert Gordon Hill, 1982 June 25.

1984

Oral history interview with Keith Boyer, 1984 November 5.

1987

Oral history interview with Charles L. Critchfield, 1987 May 29.

1989

Oral history interview with Charles A. Barnes, 1989 June 13 and 26.

1991

Oral history interview with Harold F. Weaver, 1991 September 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.

1993

Oral history interview with D. H. Sharp, 1993 July 23.

1994

Oral history interview with Robert F. Christy, 1994.

1995

Half lives [videorecording] / Nuclear Waste Documentary Project; Carolyn Jourdan, producer and director, 1995.

The photograph of the students playing hockey on Ashley Pond is reprinted from "Dateline: Los Alamos," a special issue of the monthly publication of LANL (1995), 7.

1999

The text for this page was adapted from, and portions were taken directly from the Office of History and Heritage Resources publication: F. G. Gosling, The Manhattan Project: Making the Atomic Bomb (DOE/MA-0001; Washington: History Division, Department of Energy, January 1999), 35, 37-38.

In 1999, Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee was accused of 59 counts of mishandling classified information by downloading nuclear secrets—"weapons codes" used for computer simulations of nuclear weapons tests—to data tapes and removing them from the lab.

2000

In 2000, two computer hard drives containing classified data were announced to have gone missing from a secure area within the laboratory, but were later found behind a photocopier.

The year 2000 brought additional hardship for the laboratory in the form of the Cerro Grande Fire, a severe forest fire that destroyed several buildings (and employees' homes) and forced the laboratory to close for two weeks.

2001

The photograph of Ernest Lawrence, Enrico Fermi, and Isidore Rabi is courtesy LANL. The photograph of the MP checking the resident's ID is reprinted in the photo insert of F. G. Gosling, The Manhattan Project: Making the Atomic Bomb (Washington: History Division, DOE, October 2001).

2002

Oral history interview with Philip Morrison, 2002 December 19 and 20.

2003

Oral history interview with Philip Morrison, 2003 February 22 and August 1.

In 2003, the laboratory's director (John Browne) and deputy director resigned following accusations that they had improperly dismissed two whistleblowers who had alleged widespread theft at the lab.

2004

In July 2004, an inventory of classified weapons data revealed that four hard disk drives were missing: two of the drives were subsequently found to have been improperly moved to a different building, but another two remained unaccounted for.

2005

In May 2005, Nanos stepped down as director.

2006

Oral history interview with Edward A. Frieman, 2006 December 4 and 5.

The V-Site was restored in 2006 after the Atomic Heritage Foundation raised the matching funds for the grant.

2008

Oral history interview with Ray E. Kidder, 2008 April 29.

In 2008, the National Trust for Historic Preservation honored the V-Site Restoration Project with a National Trust/Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Award for Federal Partnerships in Historic Preservation.

In 2008, development for a safer, more comfortable and accurate test for breast cancer was ongoing by scientists Lianjie Huang and Kenneth M. Hanson and collaborators.

2010

In 2010, three vaccines for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus were being tested by lab scientist Bette Korber and her team. "These vaccines might finally deal a lethal blow to the AIDS virus", says Chang-Shung Tung, leader of the Lab's Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group.

2012

Oral history interview with Richard Garwin, 2012 December 20.

2017

As of 2017, other research performed at the lab included developing cheaper, cleaner bio-fuels and advancing scientific understanding around renewable energy.

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