Timeline Wednesday 2 December 1942

Events on Wednesday 2 December 1942 1

• 1942 Chicago Pile-1 achieves first nuclear chain reaction Fermi's reactor goes critical under a Chicago stadium A team led by Enrico Fermi achieved the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in a graphite pile under the stands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago. The experiment proved that nuclear energy could be released on a large scale. It was a key step toward both the atomic bomb and nuclear power.