Who invented x ray machine

She actually discovered the radioisotopes radium and polonium. Some might also know that she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She actually won two. But few will know she was also a major hero of World War I. In fact, a visitor to her Paris laboratory in October of — years ago this month — would not have found either her or her radium on the premises. Her radium was in hiding and she was at war.

For Curie, the war started in early , as German troops headed toward her hometown of Paris. She knew her scientific research needed to be put on hold. So she gathered her entire stock of radium, put it in a lead-lined container, transported it by train to Bordeaux — miles away from Paris — and left it in a safety deposit box at a local bank. She then returned to Paris, confident that she would reclaim her radium after France had won the war. Rather than flee the turmoil, she decided to join in the fight.

But just how could a middle-aged woman do that? She decided to redirect her scientific skills toward the war effort; not to make weapons, but to save lives. We now have a far better understanding of the risks associated with X-ray radiation and have developed protocols to greatly minimize unnecessary exposure.

Not a bad legacy for an accidental discovery. Columbia University Irving Medical Center. History of Medicine: Dr. On November 8, , the famous Ford Rotunda stands in Dearborn, Michigan for the last time: the next day, it is destroyed in a massive fire.

Some 1. He was unharmed. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. US Government. US Politics. Vietnam War. Art, Literature, and Film History.

Honorary degrees, medals, streets named in his honor and memberships to academic societies all followed. The recognition peaked with the awarding of the first Nobel Prize for physics in [source: Nobel Prize ]. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close.