Who discovered radium and when was it discovered?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Radium was discovered in 1898 by Pierre Curie, Marie Curie, and their assistant, G. Bémont.12

The discovery occurred during their investigation of radioactivity in the mineral pitchblende. After observing that the mineral's radioactivity was significantly higher than could be explained by its uranium content alone, the Curies employed a new method of chemical analysis controlled by measurements of radioactivity to isolate the new substance.12