Who discovered X-rays?

• A. Marie Curie
• B. Nikola Tesla
• C. Albert Einstein
• D. Wilhelm Roentgen

Answer: (D)

X-rays were first discovered by Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895 during experiments with a Crookes tube. He noticed a fluorescent screen glow despite one side of the apparatus being shielded from visible light, revealing a new kind of penetrating radiation. This led to the creation of the first X-ray image, famously of a hand, and he named the unknown radiation “X-rays.” The discovery opened the door to medical imaging and earned Roentgen the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. Other scientists mentioned here made important contributions in related areas—radioactivity, electrical engineering and early X-ray work, and theoretical physics—but Roentgen is credited with the first observation of X-rays.