The Miracle No One Could See

Name: The Miracle No One Could See
Genre: Documentary

Radium's journey from scientific discovery to supposed cure-all created a market before anyone fully understood its risks.

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Transcript

People put radium in cocktails before its dangers were fully understood.
Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium in 1898.
In 1903, Tanakadate Aikitsu brought only 10 milligrams of radium to Japan.
In 1904, radium was used in paint, cocktails, and other objects to make them glow.
By the decade's end, research had established radiation's use in medical practice.
In 1913, radium was reported effective at reducing malignant growths.
The market became infatuated with radium after its discovery.
In Japan, radium hot springs became fashionable during the 1910s.
By 1916, Kosakai Fuboku called it an era of radium or radiation.
By 1918, demand was high enough to raise fears of a radium shortage.
In 1919, radium entered beauty products and makeup.
Modern life seemed brightest when its deepest force stayed beyond human sight.
The National Bureau of Standards Radium Section performed more than 1,400 calibrations totaling 25.5 grams during the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1920.
Noah Dorsey worked for six and a half years with gram quantities of radium.
I was mentally and physically burned out.
He took leave on June 30th, 1920, after years of radium work.
In 1913, Sabin von Sochocky produced a fluorescent paint for commercial use.

The miracle became a factory product when one man found a way to make radium glow without stopping.

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