Here is a timeline of the life of Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha:
- 1909: Born in Mumbai on October 30 to a wealthy Parsi family.
- 1927: Went to England to study at Cambridge University.
- 1930: Earned a first class in the mechanical tripos at Cambridge.
- 1933: Secured a doctorate in nuclear physics from Cambridge University.
- 1934: Earned a Ph.D. in physics from Cambridge University.
- 1935: Published a paper on electron-positron scattering, later known as Bhabha scattering.
- 1939: Returned to India and joined the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore as a Reader. Founded the Cosmic Ray Research Unit at the Institute.
- 1942: Awarded the Adams Prize by the University of Cambridge.
- 1945: Founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR).
- 1947: Argued to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that atomic energy would be important to India's economy.
- 1948: Set up the Atomic Energy Commission and became its first chairman.
- 1954: Founded the Atomic Energy Establishment at Trombay, later renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Awarded Padma Bhushan by the Indian Government.
- 1955: Organized the first UN Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy.
- 1960-1963: Served as President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.
- 1966: Died in a plane crash on January 24.
- 1969: The Tarapur Atomic Power Station, India's first nuclear power plant, began operations.
- 1970: The development of a radio telescope in Ooty, which Bhabha initiated, was completed.
Here is a timeline of India's atomic development program after 1970, which Homi J. Bhabha initiated:
- 1971: The Reactor Research Centre was established under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). It was later renamed the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR).
- 1972: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi officially approved a nuclear test.
- 1974: India conducted its first "peaceful nuclear explosion," codenamed "Operation Smiling Buddha," at Pokhran2. Indira Gandhi called India a "nuclear country".
- 1980: Discovery of Pakistan's atomic bomb program led India to believe that it would succeed in a few years, further elevating tensions2. Indira Gandhi reaffirmed India’s commitment to the use of peaceful nuclear explosions but did not preclude carrying out future nuclear explosions when necessary for national interests.