Radium was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898.
Marie Curie working in her laboratory at the University of Paris/1925/AFP/Getty Images
Excerpts from MARIE CURIE'S DIARY
"...a new "strongly" radioactive substance contained in pitchblende..." "We think this is a very serious reason to attribute the new line to the radioactive part of our substance. The various reasons which we have enumerated lead us to think that the new radioactive substance contains a new element to which we propose to give the name radium" "... a source of light which requires no energy can thus be obtained..."
Marie Curie's Still radioactive Laboratory Notebook
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Marie Curie's notebook containing notes of experiments on radioactive substances. Bibliothèque Nationale (National Library) in France
Curie's laboratory notebook. Bibliothèque Nationale (National Library) in France
Pierre and Marie Curie in the "hangar" at l'Ecole de physique et chimie industrielles in Paris, France, where they made their discovery. (Photo taken 1898.)/nobelprize.org
Death Announcement, New York Times, Thursday July 5th, 1934