CERN

CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire), the world's largest particle physics laboratory, situated on the border between France and Switzerland, just west of Geneva. It is also known for being the birthplace of the World Wide Web. The convention establishing it was signed on September 29, 1954. From the original 12 signatories of the CERN convention, membership has grown to the present 20 Member States.

The acronym

The acronym originally stood, in French, for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research), which was a provisional council for setting up the laboratory, established by 11 European governments in 1952. The acronym was retained for the new laboratory after the provisional council was dissolved, and informally changed to Centre Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Centre for Nuclear Research).

Related Topics:
French - European - 1952

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