50th anniversary

On Fermilab’s 50th anniversary, we take a look back at its connections to the civil rights movement using archives and original interviews.

On March 1, 1972, the accelerator reached its 200-GeV design energy.

In March, Fermilab saw the installation of its final Tevatron magnet, the start of MINOS and Tevatron Run II operations, and the groundbreaking for the Main Injector. Read on for more March milestones.

On February 28, 1967, Robert R. Wilson became the director of the National Accelerator Laboratory.

As we enter the second month of Fermilab’s 50th year, we look back on Robert Wilson assuming the lab’s first directorship and revisit the lab’s first experiment, along with other memorable milestones.

Fermilab’s beginnings can be traced to a 1963 report by a panel of U.S. scientists led by Norman Ramsey. In the 50 years since, Fermilab has grown to a laboratory of 1,800 employees, and scientists from 44 countries come to Fermilab to participate in its forefront particle physics programs.

Many visitors to Fermilab reasonably conclude from its name that Enrico Fermi worked at the laboratory, but he never did. In fact, he died in 1954, years before scientists even officially recommended the construction of a U.S. accelerator laboratory.

As part of our year-long recognition of Fermilab’s 50th anniversary, we will feature a few important milestones in the laboratory’s history every month.

Next year, the country’s premier particle physics laboratory celebrates 50 years of discovery and innovation with a huge open house and many other events.