The Economic Times

In 1896, a French scientists left uranium salts in a drawer wrapper. What happened next unlocked the atomic age

A cloudy day led to a scientific accident. Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity when uranium salts exposed photographic plates in a drawer. This finding shattered the idea of stable atoms. Marie Curie later coined the term and discovered new elements. This discovery transformed our understanding of matter and led to nuclear physics and new technologies.