Radon was discovered through the study of radioactivity. In 1899 Ernest Rutherford and Robert Owens, working at McGill University in Montreal, noticed that thorium compounds gave off a radioactive gas, which Rutherford called an emanation. In 1900 the German physicist Friedrich Ernst Dorn found that radium produced a similar gas, and it was William Ramsay and his collaborator Robert Whytlaw-Gray who isolated and characterised radon in 1908. It is a heavy, colourless noble gas that is itself radioactive and decays into other radioactive elements. Radon forms naturally in the ground from the decay of uranium and thorium and can accumulate in buildings. It is considered the second most important cause of lung cancer after smoking, which is why many countries test and monitor indoor levels.
Before and after
- 6 December 1898Birth of Gunnar Myrdal
- 10 December 1898Treaty of Paris (1898)
- 24 December 1898Founding of Renault
- 1899Discovery of actinium
- 1899Discovery of radon
- 1899Publication of Heart of Darkness
- from January 1899 to August 1907Adamawa Wars
- 1899Construction of White Hart Lane
- 1899Founding of AFC Bournemouth
More in Science & technology
- 1774Discovery of chlorine
- 1789Discovery of uranium
- 30 June 1808Discovery of boron
- 1823Discovery of silicon
- 6 March 1869Periodic table
- 1884Car
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.