John Cockcroft
The first successful splitting of the atom using a particle accelerator was in part to Sir John Cockcroft, who was born on this day 27.05.1897.
Starting in 1928, Cockcroft and his colleague Ernest Walton worked on accelerating protons using a particle accelerator. In 1932, they bombarded a lithium atom with protons and successfully split its nucleus into two helium atoms. This marked the first time in history that one chemical element was transformed into another through fully controlled human intervention. For his achievement, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1951.
In 1961, Cockcroft received the "Atoms for Peace Award," which is granted for outstanding contributions to the development or application of peaceful nuclear technology. This award was established in response to President Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" speech to the United Nations, a speech that played a pivotal role in the founding of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
