Following the first 3.5 TeV collisions in March 2010, the LHC had three years of improving integrated luminosity. By the end of the first proton physics run in December 2012, the total integrated proton-proton luminosity delivered to ATLAS and CMS had reached nearly 30 fb^-1 in each experiment, enabling the discovery of a Higgs boson. ALICE, LHCb and TOTEM had also operated successfully and the LHC team had fulfilled several other objectives, including productive lead-lead and proton-lead runs. High-quality beam from the injectors and full exploitation of options in the collider underpinned this good overall performance.

Read more: "The LHC's first long run" – CERN Courier