W.C. Röntgen reported the discovery of X-rays in December 1895 after seven weeks of assiduous work during which he had studied the properties of this new type of radiation able to go through screens of notable thickness. He named them X-rays to underline the fact that their nature was unknown.

Who invented X-rays?

The discovery of the technology involved with X-ray machines was discovered by German scientist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. While working in a lab in Wurzberg, Germany in 1895, Röntgen was testing cathode rays (part of the technology behind what would later become television).

How was the X-rays accidentally discovered?

Röntgen's discovery occurred accidentally in his Wurzburg, Germany, lab, where he was testing whether cathode rays could pass through glass when he noticed a glow coming from a nearby chemically coated screen. He dubbed the rays that caused this glow X-rays because of their unknown nature.