The tale of splitting the atom isn't just about America—it's a journey from New Zealand to Manchester, led by the brilliant mind of Ernest Rutherford, the true father of nuclear physics.

A New Zealand mayor has invited the American ambassador for a history lesson, after US President Donald Trump appeared to imply it was the US that split the atom – which it is not alone in and certainly wasn't the first to do. During Trump's inauguration, he listed off a number of achievements by Americans in the past.

U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration in an inauguration speech that Americans “split the atom” prompted vexed social media posts on Tuesday by New Zealanders, who said the achievement belonged to a pioneering scientist revered in his homeland.

Physicists from both New Zealand and Britain have been credited with splitting the atom — but there is consensus that it was not an American.

Scientists based in Manchester, not the US, made the "key breakthrough" in splitting the atom, despite Donald Trump's claims in his inaugural speech, says a lecturer at the university. The 47th US President erroneously listed the feat among his country's achievements during his address in Washington DC, after he was sworn on Monday.

Nick Smith, the mayor of Nelson, challenged Trump’s claim Americans split the atom, stating the feat was actually achieved by New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford.

Mayor Nick Smith said that he would invite the incoming US ambassador to visit the Rutherford memorial in Nelson 'so we can keep the historic record on who split the atom first accurate'.