1600Architecture
1000–1600) periods, was uncovered in the 1960s in anticipation of the construction of Melton Hill Dam.
1865Architecture
A popular legend holds that John Hendrix (1865-1915), a largely unknown local man, predicted the creation of the city of Oak Ridge around 40 years before construction on the pro...
1942Architecture
It was constructed with assistance from architectural and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, from 1942 to 1943.
1943Civil Rights
By March 1943 the Corps had removed the area's earlier communities and established fences and checkpoints.
1948History
ATDD began under AEC sponsorship in 1948 as a Weather Bureau research office providing meteorological information and expertise for the AEC.
1949History
The name was formally adopted in 1949.
1950Government
Starting in 1950, Scarboro High School was established at Scarboro Elementary School to offer classes for African-American students.
1954Civil Rights
Oak Ridge elementary education before 1954 was segregated; it was legally part of the Anderson County system but built and operated primarily with federal funds.
1955Education
In 1955, 85 young Black students from the Scarboro community were the first to enter all-white classes in Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Junior High School (now Robertsv...
1956Civil Rights
The nearby high school in Clinton was desegregated in 1956.
1958Disaster
On October 5, 1958, the school was severely damaged after a series of dynamite explosions.
1959Government
In 1959 the town was incorporated.
1960History
The rainiest calendar day on record is August 10, 1960, when 7.45 inches (189 mm) of rain fell; monthly precipitation has ranged from trace amounts in October 1963 to 19.27 inch...
1963Infrastructure
The completion of Melton Hill Dam (along the Clinch near Copper Ridge) in 1963 created Melton Hill Lake, which borders the city on the northeast and east.
1967Education
In 1967 Scarboro Elementary School was closed, and African-American students from Gamble Valley were bused to other schools around the city.
1981Education
Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1981
Lindsey A.
1983Infrastructure
In 1983, the DOE declassified a report showing that significant amounts of mercury had been released from the Oak Ridge Reservation into the East Fork Poplar Creek between 1950 ...
1985History
The all-time record low is −17 °F (−27 °C), set on January 21, 1985, while the all-time record high is 105 °F (41 °C), set on June 30, 2012, and July 28, 1952.
1989History
Circa 1989, a federal court ordered the DOE to bring the Oak Ridge Reservation into compliance with federal and state environmental regulations, such as RCRA.
1996History
Temperatures reaching either 0 °F (−18 °C) or 100 °F (38 °C) are uncommon, having last occurred on February 5, 1996 (the date of the all-time record low for February), and July ...
2003Government
In 2003, Oak Ridge extended its borders west beyond the Clinch River boundary to annex the master planned community the Preserve at Oak Ridge.
2006Architecture
It is home to the Spallation Neutron Source, a $1.4 billion project completed in 2006, and "Titan", one of the world's most powerful scientific supercomputers, which has peak pe...
2008Education
Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 2008.
2015Education
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2015.
2016History
In 2016, the element tennessine was named for Tennessee, in recognition of the role Oak Ridge and other institutions in the state played in its discovery.
2017Education
The Oak Ridge school district was ranked number one in the state of Tennessee, and Oak Ridge High School was ranked the number three high school in the state of Tennessee, in th...
2018History
In 2018, IBM and ORNL unveiled Summit, the "world's fastest supercomputer", claimed to be more than twice as powerful as the previous world leader, with a peak performance of 20...
2019History
Stanford, CA: Redwood Press, 2019.
2020Architecture
In 2020, the Oak Ridge City Council approved the "Wilson Street Corridor" project plan, intended to develop and construct a downtown area along Wilson Street.
2023Architecture
In 2023, on the 68th anniversary, a Scarboro 85 Monument was erected in Oak Ridge.
2024Government
In September 2024, Orano USA selected Oak Ridge as the future site of a new multi-billion-dollar uranium enrichment facility.