December 26, 1898: Madame Curie discovers radium, advancing the study of radioactivity by leaps and bounds.
Maria Salomea Skłodowska was born on November 7, 1867 in Warsaw, in what was then "Congress Poland," in the Russian Empire. In 1891, she and her sister, eventually known as Bronisława Dłuska, fled to Paris, and became renowned scientists.
Maria married French scientist Pierre Curie, and became known in France as Marie Curie or, more popularly, "Madame Curie." Together, the Curies conducted pioneering research into radioactivity. She was the 1st woman to win a Nobel Prize, the 1st person and still the only woman to win 2 Nobels, and remains the only person to win Nobels in 2 different scientific fields: Chemistry and Physics.
She discovered the elements polonium (atomic number 84, named after her homeland) and radium (atomic number 86). Once synthesized, curium (atomic number 96) was named for her. She died in 1934, at the age of 66, probably from the effects of long-term exposure to radioactivity.
Pierre had died in 1906. Their daughter Irène Joliot-Curie (1897-1956) and her husband Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1900-1958) shared a Nobel Prize in 1935, but they also died young due to exposure to radioactivity. In contrast, their daughter Hélène Langevin-Joliot became a scientist and still teaches at the University of Paris at the age of 95, and their son Pierre Joliot is still working at 90. Between them, the Joliot-Curie grandchildren have 3 children of their own, all scientists.
Marie Curie has been played by Greer Garson in the 1943 film Madame Curie, Isabelle Huppert in the 1997 film The Palms of Madame Schutz, fellow Pole Karolina Gruszka in the 2016 film Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge, and Rosamund Pike in the 2019 film Radioactive.
She discovered the elements polonium (atomic number 84, named after her homeland) and radium (atomic number 86). Once synthesized, curium (atomic number 96) was named for her. She died in 1934, at the age of 66, probably from the effects of long-term exposure to radioactivity.
Pierre had died in 1906. Their daughter Irène Joliot-Curie (1897-1956) and her husband Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1900-1958) shared a Nobel Prize in 1935, but they also died young due to exposure to radioactivity. In contrast, their daughter Hélène Langevin-Joliot became a scientist and still teaches at the University of Paris at the age of 95, and their son Pierre Joliot is still working at 90. Between them, the Joliot-Curie grandchildren have 3 children of their own, all scientists.
Marie Curie has been played by Greer Garson in the 1943 film Madame Curie, Isabelle Huppert in the 1997 film The Palms of Madame Schutz, fellow Pole Karolina Gruszka in the 2016 film Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge, and Rosamund Pike in the 2019 film Radioactive.
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December 26, 1898 was a Monday. Baseball and football were out of season. Basketball barely existed. Hockey was still all-amateur. However, being the day after Christmas, English soccer held its already-traditional Boxing Day fixtures. Among these was Manchester City's 4-0 win over Newton Heath at the Hyde Road ground in Manchester. This was what would now be called a Manchester Derby: In 1902, Newton Heath changed its name to Manchester United.
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