did-you-know: X-rays were discovered by accident. While experimenting with cathode rays covered

did-you-know:

X-rays were discovered by accident. 

While experimenting with cathode rays covered by thick cardboard in 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen noticed a light being cast on a fluorescent board across the room. The first X-ray was of the hand of his wife, who saw the image of her bones and exclaimed ‘I have seen my death!’

So he named them X-rays, using an ‘X’ to represent their mysterious nature. 

(Source, Source 2,Source 3)