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

Donald Trump angered New Zealanders on his first day in office when he asserted that America split the atom, something that Sir Ernest Rutherford accomplished.

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.

After President Trump's claim, a mayor in New Zealand pointed out that work to split the atom was actually pioneered by physicist Ernest Rutherford.

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.

A science-related comment made by President Trump during an inauguration address on Tuesday sparked online backlash, particularly among New Zealanders. Trump said Americans "crossed deserts, scaled mountains,