Wiktionary:Word of the day/2020/February 11

Word of the day
for February 11
radium n
  1. The chemical element (symbol Ra) with an atomic number of 88. It is a soft, shiny and silvery radioactive alkaline earth metal.
  2. (textiles, dated) A type of cloth woven from silk or synthetic yarn, often with a shiny appearance.

Today is designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science to recognize the critical role that women and girls play in science and technology communities. Radium was discovered by Marie Skłodowska Curie and her husband Pierre in 1898. In 1903 she became the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize; she, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research into radiation.

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