curium-242 was synthesized by bombarding an isotope with alpha particles
Curium The curium-242 isotope was produced in July–August 1944 by bombarding 239Pu with α-particles to produce curium with the release of a neutron:
Discovery of the neutron The year 1932 was later referred to as the "annus mirabilis" for nuclear physics in the Cavendish Laboratory,[40] with discoveries of the neutron, artificial nuclear disintegration by the Cockcroft–Walton particle accelerator, and the positron.