First X-ray photograph of a human being (1895). The picture was made by Wilhelm Roentgen (1845- 1923) shortly after his discovery of X-rays in 1895. It shows the hand of his wife, who is wearing a ring. Roentgen was professor of physics at Wurzburg, Germany. While using an electric discharge tube in a darkened room, he noticed that a card coated with barium platinocyanide glowed when the tube was switched on. The effect was not blocked by an intervening wall, or even a thin sheet of metal. Roentgen termed this X-ray radiation, and used the X-ray of his wife's hand as proof to show colleagues. He received the Nobel Prize in 1901.