Synthesis of Californium Announced

Date: March 17, 1950 • Location: Berkeley, United States

Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announced the synthesis of californium, a radioactive transuranium element.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center in the hills of Berkeley, California, and Oakland, California, United States. Established in 1931 by the University of California (UC), the laboratory is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and administered by the UC system. Ernest Lawrence, who won the Nobel prize for inventing the cyclotron, founded the lab and served as its director until his death in 1958. Located in the Berkeley Hills, the lab overlooks the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.