International X-Ray day: How Rontgen discovered the 'unknown' rays
Story highlights
November 8, 2017, marks the 122nd anniversary of the discovery of X-rays.
The eighth day of November is observed as International X-ray Day to mark the significant role played by Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen, who discovered X-ray on November 8 in 1895.
The day was first introduced in 2012 as a joint collaboration by the European Society of Radiology, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the American College of Radiology (ACR).
Rontgen developed X-ray accidentally during an experiment to figure out whether cathode rays could pass through glass.
He discovered that the energy waves of electromagnetism were stopped by the human body.
Initially, he did not know what these rays were and hence called them X-rays, "X" for unknown.
The discovery of X-ray has paved the way for many other technological advancements in the field of medicine and security.
Today X-rays are widely used for medicinal and security purposes in detecting the inside of human body.