All timelines

Over the years CERN has hosted many world-class experiments on antimatter. Follow the research from first observations to the latest breakthroughs.

The Higgs boson is the final piece of the puzzle in the Standard Model – finding it with the LHC would be a momentous result. But not finding it could be even more exciting.

LEP – the largest electron–positron accelerator ever built – was dismantled in 2000. Its 27-kilometre tunnel now hosts the LHC

CERN has come a long way since its foundation in 1954. This timeline collects the organization's major contracts, projects, partnerships and scientific advances.

Follow the story of the web from its inception at CERN to the global phenomenon we know today.

Find out when CERN's member states joined the organization.

Find out when CERN's accelerators were commissioned and built – and when beams circulated inside them for the first time.

The LHC is the largest machine in the world. It took thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians decades to plan and build, and it continues to operate at the very boundaries of scientific knowledge.

CERN's first computer was a Dutchman named Wim Klein. How things have changed.

Featured content from CERN's archives, chosen by Anita Hollier.

The On-Line Isotope Mass Separator ISOLDE is a facility dedicated to the production of a large variety of radioactive ion beams

To find the W boson, CERN converted Europe's largest accelerator, the Super Proton Synchrotron, into the world's first proton-antiproton collider. The bold move paid off 

The positron - the antimatter counterpart of the electron - was discovered in a cloud chamber in 1932. The particle is still making tracks today

Explore the fascinating past and present of the ATLAS Collaboration in this timeline.

In early 2013, the CERN accelerator complex shut down for two years of planned maintenance and consolidation. The work prepared the accelerators and experiments for running the LHC at the higher energy of 13 TeV.

From early experiments with electricity to detectors in space: Find out about the history of research into cosmic rays 

Explore the resources prepared for press for important events in CERN's history.