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LiveScience
LiveScience
Tia Ghose

Science history: Marie Curie discovers a strange radioactive substance that would eventually kill her — Dec. 26, 1898

Marie and Pierre Curie (center and right) in their lab with another unidentified man.
QUICK FACTS

Milestone: Discovery of radium and polonium

Date: Dec. 26, 1898

Where: Paris

Who: Marie and Pierre Curie, Gustave Bémont

On this day, chemists discovered a substance 900 times more radioactive than uranium. Their research led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs and worldwide fame — but it would also kill one of them.

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