History of the Atom By itssophiamoore 400 BCE Democritus discovered that everything is made up of matter. 1808 John Dalton discovered that all matter is made up of individual particles called atoms. 1826 John Dalton received a Royal Medal 1888 Lord Rutherford discovered the nucleus 1897 Sir J.J Thomson discovered the electron 1900 Max Planck discovered the quantum of action 1906 Sir J.J Thomson received the Nobel Prize in Physics 1913 Niels Bohr created a model of the atom 1918 Max Planck won Nobel Prize in Physics 1932 Sir Chadwick discovered the neutron 1935 Sir James Chadwick received the Nobel Prize in Physics 1962 Niels Bohr received a Nobel Prize in Physics
