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Chicago Pile 1

On December 2nd, 1942, an experiment called Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) successfully produced an atomic chain reaction for the first time. They celebrated with a bottle of chianti that was signed by those present. Despite the accomplishment, Leo Szilard knew very well that “this day would go down as black day in the history of mankind”.

Source: Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986.

Chicago Pile 1 Celebration Bottle
Chicago Pile 1 and the celebration bottle signed by those present
Public Domain

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Full disclosure, I may occasionally borrow a sentence from Will Durant's Story of Civilization. I absolutely love that collection!