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The following Nuclear Age Timeline was created by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation to preserve memory, and to awaken and educate new generations about the profound dangers and extreme risks posed by nuclear weapons.

scientists unraveled the structure of the atom, revealing the electron and proton. 

in 1938 fission of uranium atoms by neutrons was carried out in Germany. The energy associated with fission opened the possibility for powerful weapons and also the production of energy for civilian use.

The United Nations attempted to develop a policy for control of nuclear weapons, but the United States and the Soviet Union could not agree. This was but one component of the emerging Cold War between the two nations. Citizens of all nations saw the power of nuclear fission as massive threat as well as a source of useful energy for mankind.

By the late 1950s, officials of the Eisenhower administration, after having seen the results of numerous atomic bomb tests, had a fairly realistic idea of how difficult it would be to survive a nuclear bomb blast. They continued, however, to disseminate somewhat dubious survival information, primarily to give the American public a sense of hope and control over their own lives. They also believed that a public confident of surviving an atomic war would support the federal government's decision to increase its own atomic arsenal, even though its existence could provoke a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

America's post-World War II period is often portrayed as a time of affluence and contentment, but fear of atomic war and Communist infiltration also marked the era and affected the decisions Americans made about their lives and futures. Fear of atomic bomb attacks on the nation's cities helped motivate people to move to the relative safety of the suburbs. Some Americans built fallout shelters to protect their families while others, shocked by the prospect of nuclear annihilation at any moment, sought to live for the present.

Once the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, Americans realized a new era in history, one defined by the ability of humans to destroy their world.

Positive portrayals of atomic bomb blasts, along with toys and games that made light of atomic bomb destruction like those in the case below, may have helped diffuse some of the fear the American public felt about the bomb by desensitizing them to the devastation an atomic bomb could cause.

Today, the world is attempting to control nuclear proliferation through diplomacy and treaties. In 1996, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty prohibited nations from using bombs for either military or research purposes. Forty-one states with nuclear capabilities have signed the treaty, but it cannot take effect until three more nations join. India, Pakistan, and North Korea are among the countries that have refused. Although the United States has signed the treaty, it has not ratified it yet.

In 1979 at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in USA a cooling malfunction caused part of the core to melt in the # 2 reactor. The TMI-2 reactor was destroyed.  Some radioactive gas was released a couple of days after the accident, but not enough to cause any dose above background levels to local residents.  There were no injuries or adverse health effects from the Three Mile Island accident.  The Three Mile Island power station is near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in USA.