Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen biography

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In 1895, while experimenting with electric current flow in a cathode-ray tube, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen observed that a nearby piece of barium platinocyanide gave off light when the tube was in operation. In view of its uncertain nature, he called the phenomenon X-radiation (also Röntgen radiation). He took the first X-ray photographs: interiors of metal objects and of the bones in his wife's hand.