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Radium was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898 [1] and was soon combined with paint to make luminescent paint, which was applied to clocks, airplane instruments, and the like, to be able to read them in the dark. [2] In 1914, Dr. Sabin Arnold von Sochocky and Dr. George S. Willis founded the Radium Luminous Material Corporation.
The first use of radioluminescence was in luminous paint containing radium, a natural radioisotope. Beginning in 1908, luminous paint containing a mixture of radium and copper-doped zinc sulfide was used to paint watch faces and instrument dials, giving a greenish glow.
Radium paint was widely used for 40 years on the faces of watches, compasses, and aircraft instruments, so they could be read in the dark. Radium is a radiological hazard, emitting gamma rays that can penetrate a glass watch dial and into human tissue. During the 1920s and 1930s, the harmful effects of this paint became increasingly clear.
Radium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ra and atomic number 88. ... such devices glow in the dark after exposure to light, but the glow fades. [14] ...
The following year, a new facility at the Bloomsburg plant opened for the manufacturing of "tritiated metal foils and tritium activated self-luminous light tubes," [9] and the company switched focus to the manufacture of glow-in-the-dark exit and aircraft signs using tritium. Starting in 1979, the company underwent an extensive reorganization.
Radium Girls: Women and industrial health reform, 1910–1935. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-4640-7. Grady, Denise (6 October 1998). "A Glow in the Dark, and a Lesson in Scientific Peril". The New York Times
These particles excite the phosphor, causing it to emit a low, steady glow. Tritium is not the only material that can be used for self-powered lighting. Radium was used to make self-luminous paint from the early 20th century to about 1970. Promethium briefly replaced radium as a radiation source. Tritium is the only radiation source used in ...
Stars made of glow-in-the-dark plastic are placed on walls, ceilings, or hanging from strings make a room look like the night sky. [29] Other objects like figurines, cups, posters, [30] lamp fixtures, toys [31] and bracelet beads may also glow. [32] Using blacklights makes these things glow brightly, common at raves, bedrooms, theme parks, and ...