W ILH E LM CO N RA D

RÖN T G E N
● GERMAN MECHANICAL ENGINEER AND PHYSICIST
● BORN ON MARCH 27, 1845 AT LENNEP , GERMANY
● THE ONLY CHILD OF CARLOTTA CONTANZA ROWEIN & FRIEDRICH CONRAD RONTGEN
● THE FIRST PERSON TO SYSTEMATICALLY PRODUCE AND DETECT ELECTROMAGNETIC
RADIATION IN A WAVELENGTH RANGE TODAY KNOWN AS X-RAYS OR RÖNTGEN RAYS.
HE HAD BEEN STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF ELECTRICAL CHARGE ON THE RESPONSE AND
APPEARANCE OF VACUUM TUBES FOR DECADES.
● HE IS ALSO KNOWN FOR HIS DISCOVERIES IN MECHANICS, HEAT, AND ELECTRICITY.
 Birthplace of Rontgen

Wilhelm with his parents Wilhelm’s Wife

● 1848 - HE ATTENDED THE INSTITUTE OF MARTINUS HERMAN VAN DOORN

● 1865 - HE ENTERED THE UNIVERSITY OF UTRECHT TO STUDY PHYSICS

WITHOUT HAVING THE NECESSARY CREDENTIALS REQUIRED FOR A
REGULAR STUDENT

● 1869 - HE EARNED HIS PHD FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH AND WENT
TO WURZBURG TO WORK
● 1870 - HE PUBLISHED A PAPER ON THE SPECIFIC HEATS OF GASES

● 1872 - HE WAS MARRIED TO ANNA BERTHA LUDWIG

● 1874 - RÖNTGEN BECAME A LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF

STRASBOURG

● 1875 - PROFESSOR IN THE ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURE IN WURTTEMBERG

● 1876 - PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AT STRASBOURG UNIVERSITY

● 1879 - HE WAS APPOINTED TO THE CHAIR OF PHYSICS AT THE UNIVERSITY

OF GIESSEN

● 1887 - THEY RAISED ONE CHILD, JOSEPHINE BERTHA LUDWIG, WHOM THEY
ADOPTED AT THE AGE OF 6 FROM ANNA’S BROTHER
● 1888 - HE OBTAINED THE PHYSICS CHAIR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WURZBURG

● 1895 - HE WAS STUDYING THE RESULTS OF LOW PRESSURE GAS ON AN

ELECTRIC CURRENT

● 1895 - HE CONDUCTED A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS IN WHICH HE CONNECTED

A TYPE OF VACUUM CALLED A HITTORF-CROOKES TUBE TO AN EARLY AND VERY
POWERFUL ELECTROSTATIC CHARGE GENERATOR KNOWN AS A RUHMKORFF
COIL, SIMILAR TO WHAT SPARKS A CAR MOTOR TO START
● 1895 - HE PLACED HIS WIFE’S HAND BETWEEN THE DISCHARGE TUBE AND
THE PLATE WHICH SHOWED HER A SHARPER IMAGE OF THE BONES OF
HER HAND AND HER RING AND A FAINTER IMAGE OF THE REST OF HER HAND .
THIS WAS THE FIRST X-RAY.

● 1896 - AFTER SECRETLY CONFIRMING HIS FINDINGS, HE PUBLISHED AN

ARTICLE TITLED, “ON A NEW KIND OF RAYS”
● 1900 - HE FINALLY ACCEPTED THE POSITION AS CHAIR OF PHYSICS AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH, WHERE HE REMAINED FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE

● 1900 - RONTGEN WAS AWARDED THE BARNARD MEDAL FOR MERITORIOUS

SERVICE TO SCIENCE

● 1901 - RONTGEN WON THE FIRST NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS FOR, “THE
EXTRAORDINARY SERVICES HE HAS RENDERED BY THE DISCOVERY OF THE
REMARKABLE RAYS SUBSEQUENTLY NAMED AFTER HIM.”
First medical X-ray by Wilhelm Röntgen Nobel Prize
of his wife Anna Bertha Ludwig's hand
Building where Prof. Rontgen discovered the X-rays
● 1907 - HE BECAME A FOREIGN MEMBER OF THE ROYAL NETHERLANDS
ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

● HE DISCOVERED THE X-RAYS, A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION MAINTAINS

HIS LABORATORY AND PROVIDES GUIDED TOURS TO THE RONTGEN
MEMORIAL SITE IN WURZBURG.

● 1923 - HE DIED FROM CARCINOMA OF THE INTESTINE

 ● Deutsches Röntgen-Museum

The collections of the German Röntgen Museum comprise more

than 155,000 objects. Among our collection items there is
a very high number of invaluable original exhibits and a
quite unique collection worldwide of appliances to detect,
research and apply X-rays across all scientific areas.

https://roentgenmuseum.de/en/the-museum/
● 2012- WORLD RADIOLOGY DAY: THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF RADIOLOGY IS
AN ANNUAL EVENT PROMOTING THE ROLE OF MEDICAL IMAGING IN
MODERN HEALTHCARE.