# Big Bang The cosmological model describing the universe's origin from an extremely hot, dense state approximately 13.8 billion years ago. The Big Bang theory was confirmed by the accidental discovery of [[wiki/Cosmic Microwave Background|cosmic microwave background radiation]] by [[wiki/Arno Penzias|Arno Penzias]] and Robert Wilson at [[wiki/Bell Labs|Bell Labs]] in 1964. Referenced in [[articles/Bell Labs and the Distributed Architecture of American Power|Bell Labs and the Distributed Architecture of American Power]].