If you land on Google today, you’ll see the familiar logo modified to honor the discovery of the X-Ray—on this date in 1895.
Like many inventions, this one was by accident. Physicist William Rontgen was testing cathode rays in Germany, to see if they would pass through glass. At some point, they passed through Rontgen himself—and the outline of his bones on a chemically-coated screen astounded the scientist, who dubbed the beam an “X-ray” because of its unknown nature.
The discovery was hailed as a medical miracle—becoming an important diagnostic tool. Without surgery, doctors could see inside the human body.
Although quick to discover the upside of this discovery, the world of science was slow to comprehend the inherent dangers of radiation passing through the body. Burns and skin damage was reported—and several scientists, including Thomas Edison’s assistant Clarence Daily, died of cancer after repeated exposure to the radiation. X-rays were prevalent outside of medicine, even to the point of SHOE STORES utilizing the technology to size footwear!
Here are a couple of videos—one a documentary on X-rays from 1940---the other an animated look at how X-rays work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3s5HFQ2YME&NR=1\
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vSH-dlM5U8
William Rontgen won the first Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901. Despite the numerous accolades he received, he remained modest and never tried to patent his discovery.
Today, x-ray technology is still used extensively in medicine, materials analysis and airport security.
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