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On November 7th, 1867, Marie Skłodowska Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland. Her parents were Vladislav Skłodowska and Bronisława Skłodowska, who passed away at the age of 42 because of turberculosis. She had four other siblings, Zofia, Hela, Jozef, and Bronya. However, Zofia passed away at a really yong age from typhus.
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In 1882, Marie Curie graduates from her high school. She graduates at the age of 15. In the following year, she was awarded a gold medal for her academic success. Because university of Warsaw did not allow women, she deccided to attend "the floating university", an illegal night school to evade from the Russian authorities.
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In fall of 1891, Marie Curie leaves from Warsaw to Paris to enroll in Sorbonne. She earns her degree in mathematics and physics. She finished first in physics and second in mathematics.
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On July 26, 1895, Marie Curie married Pierre Curie. Pierre Curie was one of the director of the labortories in Sorbonne.
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On July 18, 1898, Marie Curie discovers a new element, Polonium which was named after the native land of Curie, Poland.
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On December 26, 1898, Marie Curie discovers another element, Radium using the same exact process to look for Polonium. The discoveries of the elements help Curie earn the Nobel Prize,
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In 1903, Marie Curie earns partial credit of Nobel Prize for the discovery of radioactivity.
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This day was possibly the most tragic day of her life. As Pierre was crossing the street, he got ran over a horse-drawn wagon which carried heavy military resources killing him instantly.
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On Novermber, 1910, Curie offers herself as an candidates of French Academy of Sciences. She was running against Edouard Branly, who contributed his work on wireless telegraphy.
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In 1911, Curie encountered a scandal of having an affair with Paul Langevin, who was Pierre's formal student.
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In 1911, Marie Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize "in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element."
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After Curie won her Nobel Prizr, she offered herself to become a candidate for the French Academy of Sciences. On January 23, 1911, another scientist won the election as the scandal-driven press rumored that Curie was Jewish and not French, therefore she does not deserve the seat.
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Curie also encountered great admiration from the public in the United States. She was promoted by a American journalists, Marie Meloney, who interviewed Curie in 1920 for a popular magazine. Meloney also developed a nation-wide drive to raise $100,000 to buy gram of radium for Curie when she arrives to the United States.
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On July 4, 1934, Marie Curie passed away in France. The death was caused by aplastic anemia or radiation exposure.
