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| 1942 | Fermi, Enrico |  |
| 2nd Dec Chicago A constructed graphite pile is designed to produce weapons-grade plutonium |
| 2nd Dec Chicago Completes the construction of a nuclear reactor at the University of Chicago |
| 2nd Dec Leads a team which creates the 1st controlled nuclear reaction |
| 1945 | Farrell, Thomas F | |
| 16th July Witnesses the test nuclear explosion & says, "the war is over" |
| 1952 | Truman, Harry S | |
| 22nd April The biggest atomic bomb yet is exploded watched on television by 35 million |
| 1953 | Truman, Harry S | |
| 7th Jan Truman announces that the USAhad developed the hydrogen bomb |
| 1954 | Eisenhower, Dwight David | |
| 1st Mar The USAcarries out the 1st hydrogen bomb test in Bikini Atoll |
| 24th Mar According to Eisenhower the Hydrogen Bomb test exceeds all expectations |
| 1955 | Eisenhower, Dwight David | |
| 10th Mar Eisenhower indicates willingness to resort to nuclear weapons in the event of war |
| 1960 | Eisenhower, Dwight David | |
| 23rd Jan Goldsboro A B-52 bomber carrying two 24 megaton bombs crashes, one of the bombs, five of six interlocking safety devices fail, and a single switch prevents detonation, the explosion would have been 1,800 times more powerful than Hiroshima |
| Dec The Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff complete SIOP 62, plans for the launch of more than 3,000 nuclear weapons, including hundreds of hydrogen bombs, to attack in the first few hours of conflict 1,000 targets in Communist countries |
| 1961 | Eisenhower, Dwight David | |
| 15th Sep The United States nuclear testing moratorium ends |
| 20th Sep The United States and the Soviet Union sign a "Joint Statement of Agreed Principles for Disarmament Negotiations ," the McCloy-Zorin Accords |
| 20th Dec The United Nations General Assembly adopts the McCloy-Zorin Accords |
| 1961 | Kennedy, John Fitzgerald | |
| Announces doubled Minuteman production |
| B-52 & B-47 nuclear bombers placed on crisis footing & half are on a 15 minute alert |
| 1962 | Bundy, McGeorge | |
| 14th Oct A U-2 spy photographs the secret site where Russian missiles will be located in Cuba |
| 1962 | Kennedy, John Fitzgerald | |
| 17th July The USAperforms nuclear tests at the Nevada test site |
| 1963 | Kennedy, John Fitzgerald | |
| Washington Agrees to sell Polaris to Britain |
| Washington France refuses to join the Anglo-American nuclear pact |
| 1970 | Nixon, Richard Mulhouse | |
| 5th Mar The Non-Proliferation Treaty enters into force |
| 16th April Vienna The main rounds of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) open in Vienna |
| 19th April Helsinki The United States deploys the first missile with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), the Minuteman III |
| 2nd Nov Helsinki 3rd round of SALT talks open in Helsinki |
| 18th Dec A large radioactive cloud is released after a 10 kiloton underground test in Nevada, the test, code named Baneberry, is part of the nuclear tests in which radioactivity is deliberately vented out from underground, the cloud reaches Canada |
| 1971 | Nixon, Richard Mulhouse | |
| 11th Feb The Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Seabed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof is signed in Washington, Moscow and London |
| 15th Mar Vienna 4th round of SALT talks begin in Vienna |
| 30th Sep Agreement on Measures to Reduce the Risk of Outbreak of Nuclear War Between the USAand USSR is signed in Washington and enters into force |
| 1972 | Nixon, Richard Mulhouse | |
| 4th Feb The 6th round of the SALT talks begins in Vienna |
| 26th May 1st round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I ) ends with President Nixon and General Secretary Brezhnev signing the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty & the SALT Accord and the Interim Agreement on Strategic Offensive Arms |
| 29th May SALT I treaty signed |
| 8th July The 5th round of the SALT talks begins in Helsinki |
| 1973 | Ford, Gerald | |
| 22nd June The Agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union on the Prevention of Nuclear War enters into force, the major policy objectives are "to remove the danger of nuclear war and the use of nuclear weapons" |
| 1974 | Ford, Gerald | |
| 9th Nov Moscow A simulated missile attack accidentally fed into the American early warning system fools operators, during the six minutes it takes to discover that the attack is not authentic, fighters from bases in the United States and Canada take off |
| 23rd Nov President Gerald Ford and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev sign the Vladivostok Accord, which establishes a framework for future Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II) between the United States and the Soviet Union |
| 1974 | Nixon, Richard Mulhouse | |
| 3rd July Moscow The Threshold Test Ban Treaty (TTBT) , the Treaty limits nuclear test explosion to under 150 kilotons (over ten times the yield of the Hiroshima bomb) |
| 3rd July Moscow The United States and the Soviet Union agree to the Protocol to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Agreement, which limits ABM deployment to a single area |
| 1979 | Carter, Jimmy | |
| Symington Ceases economic assistance to nonnuclear weapon countries that import uranium-enrichment technology |
| Vienna Senate fails to ratify SALT II |
| Vienna The primary goal of SALT II is to replace the Interim Agreement with a long-term comprehensive treaty providing broad limits on strategic offensive weapons systems |
| Vienna The USAdoes not ratify the treaty after Russia Afghanistans in Dec 1979, Carter & Reagan agree to comply with the provisions if Russia reciprocates |
| 18th June Vienna Negotiated for 7 years & finally signed by the USA& Russia, but never ratified |
| 18th June Vienna The completed SALT II agreement is signed by President Carter & General Secretary Brezhnev |
| 1980 | Carter, Jimmy | |
| 3rd Jan Carter announces the USAwill comply with the provisions of the treaty as long as Russia reciprocates, Brezhnev make a similar statement |
| 3rd Jan Carter requests the Senate majority leader to delay consideration of the treaty on the Senate floor in view of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan |
| 1982 | Reagan, Ronald Wilson | |
| May President Reagan states he will do nothing to undercut the SALT agreements as long as the Soviet Union shows equal restraint |
| 1983 | Reagan, Ronald Wilson | |
| 23rd Mar Outlines his Strategic Defense Initiative to defend the USA& allies |
| 1984 | Reagan, Ronald Wilson | |
| Reagan declares that the Soviet Union had violated its political commitment to observe the SALT II Treaty |
| 1985 | Reagan, Ronald Wilson | |
| 8th Jan Agrees to negotiate for nuclear disarmament with Moscow |
| 1988 | Reagan, Ronald Wilson | |
| May Moscow INF treaty ratification documents are exchanged between Russia & the USA |
| May Moscow The 4th meeting between Reagan & Gorbachev |
| 1991 | Bush, George Herbert Walker | |
| 28th July President Bush warns Iraq it would be making "an enormous mistake" if it failed to disclose its nuclear weapons program to United Nations inspectors |
| 31st July Bush & Gorbachev sign the Strategic Arms Reduction |
| 27th Sep Announces cuts in nuclear weapons |
| 1992 | Bush, George Walker | |
| 29th Jan President Bush and President Yeltsin cap the first day of their Washington summit by announcing their countries had agreed to slash their long-range nuclear arsenals by two-thirds |
| 17th June President Bush and President Yeltsin sign a breakthrough arms-reduction agreement, addressing Congress , Yeltsin pledges to find any American prisoners of war still being held in Russia |
| 1999 | Clinton, William Jefferson Bill | |
| 6th Jan Washington officials say agents on arms inspection teams discovered secret weapons programs |
| 12th Jan The USAimposes sanctions on three institutions accused of helping Iran and possibly other nations to develop nuclear weapons and missiles |
| 2001 | Bush, George Walker | |
| Sep A report by Central Intelligence Agency accuses Iran of having one of the world's most active programmes to acquire nuclear weapons |
| 2002 | Bush, George Walker | |
| Sep Russian technicians begin construction of Iran's first nuclear reactor at Bushehr despite strong objections from US |
| Dec The USAaccuses Iran of seeking to develop a secret nuclear weapons programme and publishes satellite images of two nuclear sites under construction at Natanz and Arak |
| 17th Dec Orders the construction by 2004 of a limited missile defense shield |
| 2003 | Bush, George Walker | |
| June White House refuses to rule out the "military option" in dealing with Iran after IAEA says Iran "failed to report certain nuclear materials and activities" |
| 2004 | Bush, George Walker | |
| 5th Jan Officials declare Pakistani scientists gave Libya technology to build nuclear weapons |
| 2005 | Rice, Condoleezza | |
| June USASecretary of State Condoleezza Rice says IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei should either toughen his stance on Iran or fail to be chosen for a third term as IAEA head |
| 2006 | Bush, George Walker | |
| Mar USANational Security Strategy decries Iran, stating that "Iran has violated its Non-Proliferation Treaty safeguards obligations and refuses to provide objective guarantees that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes |
| 2006 | Rice, Condoleezza | |
| Mar USANational Security Strategy decries Iran, stating that "Iran has violated its Non-Proliferation Treaty safeguards obligations and refuses to provide objective guarantees that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes |
| 2007 | Bush, George Walker | |
| 13th Feb Beijing At a meeting with diplomats from the US, China, South Korea, Russia, and Japan, North Korea agrees to dismantle its nuclear facilities and allow international inspectors to enter the country in exchange for about $400 million in oil and aid |
