History of Atomic Structure

400 BC:
Democritus thought that if you bring a piece of matter and
keep on dividing it you will eventually come to a point where you
could not divide it anymore. This is what he called an atom.

1800’s:
John Dalton was the first to adapt Democritus’s model into the first
modern atomic model and he proved that atoms are indestructible
and that the elements are characterized by the weight of the atoms.

1890’s:
J.J Thompson was the first to discover the electron and had proven
that the atom is not just empty space and he had proven it by his
plum pudding model.
1910’s:
The plum pudding model did not convince Ernest Rutherford. Even
though he is a student of Thompson, he decided that he wanted to
experiment it by himself, and he found out that there is a subatomic
particle inside of an atom which is a proton.

1932:
James Chadwick had perfected Rutherford’s model and he found out
that the atoms have a nucleus inside of them which he also
discovered that they have a neutron. His model is still used to this
day.