Short answers, pulled from the story.
Particle physics studies subatomic particles and forces. Ancient philosophers in the 6th century BC first proposed that all matter consists of tiny, indivisible units called atomos.
Lise Meitner provided proofs of nuclear fission in 1939. Hans Bethe demonstrated nuclear fusion in that same year.
The Large Hadron Collider operates near Geneva Switzerland at CERN. It had its first beam circulation on the 10th of September 2008.
Sixty-one elementary particles currently populate the Standard Model classification system. This framework explains hundreds of species as combinations of fewer fundamental particles.
Gluons never appear independently due to color confinement. Interactions store energy that converts when quarks separate far enough preventing independent observation.