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Which award did the George Cross replace?
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medal
Pierre and Marie Curie depicted on the obverse of a medal from the Unio Internationalis Contra Cancrum (International Union Against Cancer) commemorating the Curies' discovery of radium in 1898.
The George Cross was instituted in 1940 by King George VI to recognize acts of the greatest heroism or most conspicuous courage in extreme danger.1
This decoration superseded the Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry, which was commonly known as the Empire Gallantry Medal.1