apr 1, 1898 - Radioactivity

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This marks the year that the radioactivity of certain compounds was discovered by Marie Curie, one of science's most recognized women. She drew inspiration from Henri Becquerel, a French physicist who had first noticed the rays that uranium emitted, in her research on uranium. Her goal was to find out why uranium compounds emitted those rays, and if any other compounds emitted similar rays, leading her to the discovery of the rays that thorium compounds emit. The breakthroughs in her research on atomic-level radiation forever changed humanity's understanding of science, as it showed that atoms, which were previously thought to be the smallest particle in the universe, had activity happening within them.

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