Chianti Bottle from the Manhattan Project

This empty bottle of Chianti Bertolli wine was signed by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project. On Wednesday, December 2, 1942, the world’s first, man-made, controlled nuclear chain reaction was achieved by the first atomic reactor, Chicago Pile -1 (CP-1), at 3:22 p.m. under the direction of physicist Enrico Fermi at the University of Chicago’s Stagg Field. Afterwards, physicist Eugene Wigner opened a bottle of chianti he had earlier purchased in honor of Fermi. Fermi, Wigner, and the other Metallurgical Laboratory scientists drank a silent toast from paper cups to recognize their world-changing achievement. The bottle’s basket bears the signatures of the scientists present at the historic experiment.