10 September 2008: the Large Hadron Collider is switched on for the first time

The search for the mysterious Higgs boson kicked off in earnest today in 2008 when the Large Hadron Collider deep below Switzerland was switched on.

Large Hadron Collider © Lionel FLUSIN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
The Large Hadron Collider
(Image credit: Large Hadron Collider © Lionel FLUSIN/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

On this day in 2008, a lot of people woke up and ate their cornflakes under a cloud of worry. They were concerned that, later in the day, the earth would be swallowed up into a black hole created accidentally by mad scientists in Switzerland, and we would all be crushed into nothingness.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.