The 57th CERN Council session

On the afternoon of 17 June 1976, CERN executive director-general, John Adams, addressed Council. After he had reported on the operation status of CERN's various accelerators, he turned to its newest addition, the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), and announced that the machine had just accelerated protons to 300 GeV - the energy specified in the programme previously approved by Council. With the dignified aplomb that characterizes the making of CERN's major decisions, Adams then politely consulted Council about increasing the energy of the machine to 400 GeV, a possibility that had been formally discussed at the 50th session. The motion was duly approved. Five minutes later, as Council continued its formal business; Adams was able to inform the meeting that the SPS had duly delivered 400 GeV protons.