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CU Boulder and the National Bureau of Standards, which would become the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), announce a new research partnership. At the time, it was known as the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics.

Photo credit: University of Colorado

The CU Boulder campus dedicates the JILA tower, where JILA scientists still work today.

Photo credit: JILA

During the first moon landing, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin leave a retrofelector on the moon. Scientists on the ground shoot lasersÌýat this device, which bounces the light back to Earth. JILA's James Faller came up with the idea for the experiment.

Photo credit: NASA

Astrophysicist Katharine Gebbie steps into leadership role at JILA. She would go on to advocate for women and other underrepresented groups in physics.

Photo credit: NIST

Because of the expanding scope of research at the institute, JILA faculty opt to drop the acronym "Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics." Like the popstars Cher or Rhianna, the institute just goes by "JILA" these days.

Photo credit: CU Boulder

Eric Cornell, a NIST and JILA fellow, and Carl Wieman, a former professor of physics at CU Boulder, take home the Nobel Prize in Physics for cooling atoms to make a Bose-Einstein Condensate, a new type of quantum matter.

Photo credit: CU Boulder

NIST and JILA's Deborah Jin leads a team that createsÌýa new kind of matter called a fermionic condensate by cooling down clouds of potassium atoms, then nudging them to form into pairs.

Photo credit: Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder

NIST and JILA fellow John "Jan" Hall takes home theÌýNobel Prize in Physics for "contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique."

Photo credit: Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder

JILA's Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn design the first X-ray laser that is small enough to fit on a tabletop. The device shoots out X-ray light at speeds of a billionth of a billionth of a second.

Photo credit: Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder

David Wineland, a NIST andÌýJILA fellow, takes home a Nobel Prize in Physics "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems."

Photo credit: Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder

The U.S. National Science Foundation awards $24 million to a new center led by CU Boulder focusing on "building the microscopes of tomorrow."

Credit: Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder

CU Boulder launches the CUbit Quantum Initiative to reinforce "Colorado’s prominence in quantum information science and technology."

Photo credit: Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder

The National Science Foundation announces a new, $25 million center led by JILA's Jun Ye. Quantum Systems through Entangled Science and Engineering (Q-SEnSE) seeks to spur researchers around the country to "investigate promising solutions to formidable quantum challenges."

Photo credit: CU Boulder

The College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder kicks off a new effort to turn quantum advances, including quantum sensors, into real-world technologies.

Photo credit: Casey Cass/CU Boulder

Panelists from CU Boulder and several local quantum companies gatherÌýon campus to discuss how the country's burgeoning quantum economy can become more inclusive.

Photo credit: JILA