Joliot-Curie Dies: Nobel Physicist Claimed by Radiation
Irene Joliot-Curie died of leukemia caused by prolonged radiation exposure, the same fate that had killed her mother Marie Curie two decades earlier. Her discovery of artificial radioactivity with her husband Frederic earned them the 1935 Nobel Prize and opened the pathway to nuclear medicine and the production of radioisotopes used in cancer treatment worldwide.
March 17, 1956
70 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on March 17
Caesar's best general turned against him, and it nearly killed him. Titus Labienus had served under Caesar for eight years in Gaul, knew every one of his tactic…
Marcus Aurelius succumbed to illness in Vindobona, ending the era of the Five Good Emperors. His death elevated his son, Commodus, to sole power, abruptly halti…
He was Rome's first emperor born into the purple — literally raised in the palace — and Marcus Aurelius knew it was a mistake. The philosopher-emperor spent his…
He murdered the emperor, then forced the widow to marry him — all within days. Petronius Maximus bribed enough senators to claim the Western Roman throne in Mar…
Petronius Maximus seized the Western Roman throne with the Senate’s backing just one day after orchestrating the assassination of Valentinian III. His reign las…
Patrick died in Saul on March 17, 461, after four decades of preaching and building churches that transformed Ireland's spiritual landscape. His death sparked a…
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