TODAY’S BIRTHDAY: Pierre Curie (1859)

Pierre Curie (1859)

Pierre Curie was a chemist who studied crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and the emerging field of radioactivity, first observed by A. H. Becquerel in 1896. Pierre and his wife Marie worked to isolate polonium and radium. Working with a student, Pierre also discovered nuclear energy by identifying the continuous emission of heat from radium particles. In 1903, the Curies shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Becquerel. Three years later, Pierre died in what type of accident? More… Discuss

Eusapia Palladino

Eusapia Palladino

Born in Italy in 1854, Palladino was a Spiritualist medium who travelled the world hosting séances at which tables seemed to levitate and spirits supposedly appeared. Many notable people—including Pierre Curie and Arthur Conan Doyle—became devotees of her. Despite performing under strict conditions that she could control, Palladino was repeatedly exposed as a fraud who pulled stunts like lifting tables with her feet. This prompted some to hold down her shoes during séances. What did she do then? More… Discuss