1940-49 || 1950-59 || 1960-69 || 1970-79 || 1980-89 || 1990-99 || 2000-present

Argonne Highlights: 1980-1989

1981

May 5 -- The Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS) is turned on for the first time. Click here for a historical article on the IPNS.

June 26 -- The Argonne Tandem Linear Accelerator System (ATLAS) is formally activated.

August 4 -- The first beams are delivered to the IPNS neutron scattering target.

August 31 -- The largest, most powerful superconducting dipole magnet ever built is tested successfully at Argonne, where it was designed and built.

September 21 -- The High-Voltage Electron Microscope-Tandem facility is formally dedicated in Argonne-East's Building 212.

1982

March 22 -- U.S. Sen. Charles Percy and Ill. Gov. Jim Thompson visit Argonne's boiler house to dedicate the first dry scrubber in the world to remove atmospheric pollutants from high-sulfur coal.

March 22 -- U.S. Sen. Charles Percy holds a hearing of the Senate subcommittee on energy, nuclear proliferation and government processes to demonstrate the need for long-term energy research and development in the United States, specifically the role of Midwest energy laboratories.

May 22 -- Ground is broken for "Pavilion/Sculpture for Argonne" on the path from Argonne-East's Building 200 to the Building 213 cafeteria.

July 13 -- Zero Power Reactor VI, Argonne-East's last zero-power critical facility, is shut down.

October 1 -- The University of Chicago becomes the sole contractor for Argonne.

October 3 -- "Pavilion/Sculpture for Argonne" is dedicated.

October 13 -- U.S. Sen. Alan Dixon dedicates Building 201, Argonne's new administration building. The newly established University Board of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory holds its first meeting.

October 26 -- The Argonne Universities Association board of trustees meets for the 85th and last time.

1983

February 9 -- The first Patent Awards Dinner is held.

April 15 -- The University of Chicago Board of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory's scientific and technical advisory committee meets for the first time.

June 2 -- The University of Chicago-Argonne agreement on joint appointments of scientific staff is adopted.

July 19 -- The University of Chicago Board of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory creates the Board of Governors' Outstanding Service Awards to complement the University of Chicago's Distinguished Performance Awards.

August 26 -- U.S. Sen. Charles Percy uses a robotic shovel to break ground for Argonne-East's Building 222.

September 20 -- Argonne chemists announce the first measurement of the reaction rate between fluorine and water.

October 28 -- The nation's strongest earthquake in 25 years (6.7 on the Richter scale) strikes 65 miles from Argonne-West. Power is lost at Argonne-West. Experimental Breeder Reactor Two (EBR-II) safety systems function flawlessly, shutting down the reactor seconds before employees feel the ground shake.

November 16 -- State-of-the-Laboratory address by Argonne Director Walter E. Massey.

1984

May 10 -- Alan Schriesheim becomes the seventh Argonne director.

June 10 -- The Intense Pulsed Neutron Source (IPNS) produces its billionth neutron pulse.

October 12 -- State-of-the-Laboratory address by Argonne Director Alan Schriesheim.

1985

January 10 -- The IPNS installs world's first solid-methane moderator.

April 25 -- The first ion beam is successfully accelerated through the entire Argonne Tandem Linear Accelerator System (ATLAS). ATLAS is the world's first superconducting accelerator for particles heavier than the electron.

June 3 -- ATLAS is officially dedicated.

December 9 -- State-of-the-Laboratory address by Argonne Director Alan Schriesheim.

1986

February 5 -- President Ronald Reagan's budget designates Argonne as the site for a 6-GeV synchrotron X-ray source and allocates $3 million for preconstruction research and development.

March 28 -- Norman Hilberry dies. He was Argonne's second director, serving from Feb. 20, 1957, to Oct. 10, 1961.

April 3 -- Two tests at EBR-II demonstrate the inherent safety of the Integral Fast Reactor concept, a reactor fueled by metal alloy and cooled by liquid sodium.

October 20 -- The Argonne-University of Chicago (ARCH) Development Corporation is established.

November 20 -- State-of-the-Laboratory address by Argonne Director Alan Schriesheim.

1987

March 2 -- Argonne chemists and biologists announce the structure of the photoreaction center of Rh. sphaeroides, a purple photosynthetic bacteria.

March 25 -- Argonne materials scientists become the first Americans to extrude a wire from the newly discovered high-temperature superconductors.

April 9 -- Argonne's first Science Careers in Search of Women conference is held April 9-10.

May 9 -- The first Argonne Science Bowl is held.

June 5 -- Ground is broken for a new Argonne Credit Union Building south of Building 213 cafeteria.

June 30 -- The 1,000th experiment is performed at the IPNS.

July 6 -- A paper by Argonne materials scientists in Applied Physics Letters is the first to report the correct structure of the newly discovered yttrium-barium-copper oxide high-temperature superconductor.

July 28 -- Argonne Director Alan Schriesheim demonstrates high-temperature superconductivity to President Ronald Reagan at a Washington, D.C., conference.

August 22 -- Argonne changes from "dial 13" to "dial 911" for emergency reporting.

September 3 -- Argonne scientists become world's first to successfully put electrical current through yttrium-barium-copper oxide wire: 125 amps/per square centimeter at 77 degrees Kelvin.

September 19 -- The IPNS produces its 2 billionth neutron pulse.

December 30 -- Argonne announces the world's first motor based on properties of high-temperature superconductors.

1988

April 12 -- State-of-the-Laboratory address by Argonne Director Alan Schriesheim.

October 5 -- A uranium-235 booster target is installed at the IPNS.

November 6 -- The first Arts at Argonne concert is held: the London Brass play in Argonne-East's Building 362 auditorium.

1989

March 27 -- State-of-the-Laboratory address by Argonne Director Alan Schriesheim.

May 26 -- A plaque is placed at the entrance to Argonne-East's Physics Building (Building 203) in honor of Nobel laureate Maria Goeppert Mayer, former staff member of Argonne's Physics Division.

1940-49 || 1950-59 || 1960-69 || 1970-79 || 1980-89 || 1990-99 || 2000-present