In 1895 Wilhelm Roentgen came across what he called “A new kind of ray”. While investigating cathode tubes and using black cardboard to block light from interfering, he found that invisible electromagnetic rays were passing through the cardboard and faintly illuminating nearby fluorescent screen that had been painted with barium platinocyanide. Roentgen began experimenting with this finding to see what materials, if any, could block the rays the way cardboard could not. One day, while imaging with a piece of lead, Roentgen noticed that a bit of his finger successfully blocked the rays. He famously then imaged his wife’s hand and in 1895 took the first-ever X-ray, which was of his wife’s hand. Upon viewing it his wife gravely stated, “I have seen my death.” The macabre birth of X-ray technology would go on to fuel conspiracists, spiritualists, and most importantly the advancement of modern medicine in the coming centuries. And it all started with Dr. Wilhelm and his wife’s now-famous skeleton hand.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/i-have-seen-my-death-how-the-world-discovered-the-x-ray
Source: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/german-scientist-discovers-x-rays
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