Here is a timeline of the life of Homi J. Bhabha:
- 1909: Born in Mumbai on October 30 to a wealthy Parsi family257.
- 1927: Went to England to study at Cambridge University27.
- 1930: Earned a first class in the mechanical tripos at Cambridge6.
- 1933: Secured a doctorate in nuclear physics from Cambridge University5.
- 1934: Earned a Ph.D. in physics from Cambridge University2.
- 1935: Published a paper on electron-positron scattering, later known as Bhabha scattering45.
- 1939: Returned to India and joined the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore as a Reader257. Founded the Cosmic Ray Research Unit at the Institute25.
- 1942: Awarded the Adams Prize by the University of Cambridge58.
- 1945: Founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)2358.
- 1947: Argued to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that atomic energy would be important to India's economy2.
- 1948: Set up the Atomic Energy Commission and became its first chairman5.
- 1954: Founded the Atomic Energy Establishment at Trombay, later renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)2358. Awarded Padma Bhushan by the Indian Government58.
- 1955: Organized the first UN Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy25.
- 1960-1963: Served as President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics6.
- 1966: Died in a plane crash on January 24256.
- 1969: The Tarapur Atomic Power Station, India's first nuclear power plant, began operations4.
- 1970: The development of a radio telescope in Ooty, which Bhabha initiated, was completed3.
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)5.
- 1972: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi officially approved a nuclear test2.
- 1974: India conducted its first "peaceful nuclear explosion," codenamed "Operation Smiling Buddha," at Pokhran2. Indira Gandhi called India a "nuclear country"4.
- 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 interests4.