The Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) became the workhorse of CERN’s particle physics programme when it switched on in 1976. The first beam of protons circulated the full 7 kilometres of the accelerator on 3 May 1976.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (/ sɜːrn /; French pronunciation: [sɛʁn]; Organisation européenne pour la recherche nucléaire), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world.

Since CERN began in 1954, we have made many significant breakthroughs, both in particle physics (such as our early discovery of neutral currents) and technologies that have helped improve our day-to-day lives (including the World Wide Web).

Over the past 70 years, CERN’s accelerators and experiments have delivered some remarkable results and discoveries, owing to the efforts of generations of physicists. We asked seven of the new...

CERN, international scientific organization established for the purpose of collaborative research into high-energy particle physics. Founded in 1954, the organization maintains its headquarters near Geneva and operates expressly for research of a “pure scientific and fundamental character.”