Marie Curie discovers radium

21 December 1898, Paris, France

Devoting her life to scientific research, physicist and chemist Marie Curie worked alongside her husband, Pierre, investigating radioactivity. In June 1898, while conducting research into the mineral of pitchblende, made of around 70% uranium, the couple discovered a new element – polonium – which they named in honour of Marie’s native country, Poland. Six months later, they discovered a second element, radium. After uncovering the existence of radium, the Curies successfully isolated radioactive radium salts in 1902, and the following year they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for their work on radioactivity, a prize they shared with fellow physicist Henri Becquerel. The first woman to win a Nobel Prize, Curie was awarded a second Nobel Prize in 1911, this time for chemistry, for her discovery of polonium and radium. Thanks to her discoveries, Curie paved the way for finding treatments for cancer as well as the development of accurate

X-ray machines.

“Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less”

– Marie Curie