Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 29 September 1954
- In 2014, Israel joined CERN as the first non-European country.
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, was founded on this day in 1954.
Originally, the acronym CERN was a French term for “Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire”, which means the “European Council for Nuclear Research”.
However, that Council was temporary, and soon grew into an organization. The name was changed, and it became the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
It is interesting to note that the organization retained the original acronym CERN, instead of the awkward acronym OERN.
CERN is located northwest of the Swiss city of Geneva, near the border with France. Indeed, many of CERN’s installations are located in the territories of France.
Originally, CERN had 12 founding states. Today, it has more than 20 member states. In 2014, Israel joined CERN as the first non-European country.
