Famous Couples - Pierre Curie & Marie Curie

Pierre Curie & Marie Curie

Pierre Curie was already a famous scientist before he married Marie Sklodowska in 1895. This famous couple did not only find true love, they also discovered radium and polonium. For their groundbreaking research in radioactivity, the couple were awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in physics. It was Marie Curie who coined the term "radioactivity", and in her honor, the 1910 Radiology Congress chose the curie as the basic unit of radioactivity. Pierre died from being run over by a horse drawn wagon, but Marie continued their research, and was eventually awarded a second Nobel Prize, the 1911 prize for Chemistry. She died in 1934, suffering from pernicious anemia which had undoubtedly been the result of years of radiation exposure.