1904		Born, March 4, Odessa, Russia
		In his school days Gamow became very much interested in astronomy, examining the starry sky through a little telescope, his father's present on the thirteenth birthday of his son. Gamow then decided to become a scientist and began his study of mathematics, physics, and astronomy.
1922	-1923	Student at Novorossia University, Odessa
1923	-1929	Student at University of Leningrad
		After graduation from the University of Leningrad in 1926, he attended summer school in Gottingen and decided to see if the newly-formulated quantum theory, so successful in explaining the structure of the atom, could also be applied to the atomic nucleus. Through research he was able to explain the then-mysterious phenomenon of natural radioactivity as well as the experiments of Lord Rutherford on the induced transformation of light elements. On the basis of this research, Gamow received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Leningrad.
1928	-1929	Fellow of Theoretical Physics Institute of the University of Copenhagen
		Later, in Copenhagen, when he told Niels Bohr of his work, Bohr offered him a year at the Institute of Theoretical Physics on a stipend from the Royal Danish Academy. There Gamow proposed a hypothesis that atomic nuclei can be treated as little droplets of so-called "nuclear fluid." These views led ultimately to the present theory of nuclear fission and fusion. At this period Gamow also collaborated with F. Houtermans and R. Atkinson in attempts to apply his formula for calculating the rate of induced nuclear transformations to the so-called thermonuclear reaction in the interior of the Sun and other stars. This formula, originally applied only to astronomical topics, is now successfully used for designing H-bombs, as well as for studying the possibility of controlled thermonuclear reactions.
1929	-1930	Rockefeller Fellow, Cambridge University
1930	-1931	Fellow of Theoretical Physics Institute of the University of Copenhagen
1931		Married Lyubov Vokhminzeva; divorced 1956
1931	-1933	Professor, University of Leningrad
		Gamow spent a year working with Lord Rutherford at Cambridge, a second year in Copenhagen, and later became a professor at the University of Leningrad.
1933	-1934	Fellow of Pierre Curie Institute, Paris Visiting Professor, University of London
	1934	Lecturer, University of Michigan
		While attending the International Solvay Congress in Brussels, he was invited, in the summer of 1934, to lecture at the University of Michigan.
1934	-1956	Professor, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
		During the early years in Washington he collaboratedwith Edward Teller on the theory of beta-decay, and formulated the so-called "Gamow-Teller Selection Rule for Beta Emission." While Gamow was in Washington he developed the theory of the internal structure of red giant stars. With Mario Schoenberg he developed the theory of the so-called Urca process; and, with Ralph Alpher, the theory of the origin of chemical elements by the process of successive neutron capture.
	1935	Son, Rustem Igor, born
	1954	Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley
		In 1954 Gamow developed an interest in biological phenomena and published papers on the information storage and transfer in a living cell. In these papers he proposed the so-called "genetic code," an idea later completely confirmed by experimental studies in laboratories.
1956	-1968	Professor, University Of Colorado
	1956	Awarded Kalinga Prize by UNESCO for popularization of science
	1958	Married Barbara Perkins ("Perky")
	1965	Overseas Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge University
	1968	George Gamow Memorial Lecture Series
		The George Gamow Memorial Lectures were initiated by the Department of Physics and Mrs. Barbara Gamow after the death of her husband. The lecture series is now maintained by a bequest to the Regents of the University of Colorado from the Will of Mrs. Barbara Gamow, who died in December 1975.