What discoveries did Henri Becquerel make in 1896?

In one of the most well-known accidental discoveries in the history of physics, on an overcast day in March 1896, French physicist Henri Becquerel opened a drawer and discovered spontaneous radioactivity. read more

Antoine Henri Becquerel was a physicist, Nobel laureate, and the discoverer of radioactivity. The SI unit for radioactivity, the becquerel (Bq), is named after him. In 1896 Becquerel was hoping to demonstrate a link between minerals that glow when exposed to strong light and a new type of electromagnetic radiation called X-rays. read more

In January 1896, Wilhelm Röntgen astonished the world by circulating photographs of the bones in his hand, taken with the aid of his new discovery: X-rays. The photographs of the interior of the human body caused a worldwide sensation that year. It also stirred Antoine Henri Becquerel to action. read more

On March 1, 1896, Becquerel presented the discovery of spontaneous radioactivity to the Académie. The discovery of spontaneous radioactivity spread rapidly and engendered a flurry of new research on the phenomenon, much of it by Marie and Pierre Curie. read more