A Leap into the Unknown: How Kharkiv Became a Global Capital of Cold

Collage by Olena Zelenina.

We mark the anniversary of an event that forever changed the landscape of global physics. On March 23, 1931, within the walls of the Ukrainian Institute of Physics and Technology (UIPT) in Kharkiv, liquid hydrogen was produced for the first time. This was not merely a technical achievement; it was Ukraine's entry into the elite "ultra-low temperature club," which at that time included only three other cities: Leiden, Toronto, and Berlin.