Insights \ Health Hits

X-rays were discovered in 1895 by German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. The first x-ray photo he produced was of his wife's hand bones complete with a large ring.

He called them x-rays after the algebraic symbol of the unknown, 'x'.

Medical applications were immediately apparent, and the first x-ray images of broken bones were taken within a few months.

Röntgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for his discovery. Early x-ray technicians were even called Röntgenologist.

When President William McKinley was shot in 1901, doctors refused to use x-rays fearing long-term health risks. Eleven years later, when Theodore Roosevelt was shot, doctors used x-rays to locate a bullet lodged in his chest muscles.

In addition to medical applications, x-rays are now used in space exploration, security and the military.