Aug

Today in Smithsonian History: August 24, 1956

Helena Weiss (Chief, Division of Correspondence and Documents, 1948-1956, Registrar, Office of the Registrar, 1956-1971), signs paperwork during the presentation of the Roentgen X-ray tube to the Smithsonian. George B. Griffenhagen, curator of the Division of Medicine and Public Health, stands to Weiss’ left.

August 24, 1956 One of the first X-ray tubes is presented to the United States National Museum of History and Technology (now the National Museum of American History.)

This is one of the first x-ray tubes used by physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845-1923), who discovered this new form of radiation at the University of Wurzburg in Germany, on November 8, 1895. While experimenting with cathode rays by passing an electric current through a glass vacuum tube covered with black paper, he noticed an unexpected green glow on a little screen covered with phosphorescent paint lying on his bench. He quickly realized that some mysterious invisible rays were leaving the tube, going through the black paper, and causing the screen to become luminous. These unknown, or “x” rays were shown to pass easily through wood, cloth, and paper, but not denser material. He showed that they could even pass through the skin and reveal the bones of the human hand. The medical diagnostic and therapeutic implications of the x-ray were realized quickly. X-ray imaging remains the most widely used form of body imaging today.

This tube was purchased from a private owner in Germany and presented to the Smithsonian Institution in 1956 by the General Electric Company’s X-ray Department of Milwaukee, Wisc. It is part of a very large and rich radiology collection at NMAH.

Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives