World's First Self-Sustaining Nuclear Chain Reaction Produced...December 2, 1942

12.08.2009
Blog

By Alexander Haimann, Collections Specialist

34-cent Enrico Fermi stamp
© United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

On December 2, 1942, the Manhattan Project’s team of scientists produced the world’s first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago. To commemorate this important accomplishment, the Smithsonian National Postal Museum has created a mini-online exhibit highlighting different objects with connections to this event.

World’s First Self-Sustaining Nuclear Chain Reaction Produced

 

Alex Haimann

About the Author
Alexander T. Haimann, Collections Specialist & Web Projects Developer at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, collects and writes primarily about the stamps and postal history of the U.S. during the first one hundred years of stamp production (1847-1947). Additionally, he develops internet based education projects and exhibits for the National Postal Museum. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Stamp Dealers Association, the Chair of the American Philatelic Society’s Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship and the publicist for the United State Philatelic Classics Society. His national and international society memberships include the American Philatelic Society, United States Stamp Society, Collectors Club of New York and the Royal Philatelic Society London.