Curie did many things. She and her husband created a theory of "radioactivity" (a term made by her and her husband Pierre Curie). They found different ways to separate radioactive isotopes and discovered two new elements: radium and polonium. The term polonium was named after Poland, her home country. She used her own studies in radioactivity to develop a new treatment for cancer. These treatments used the radioactive isotopes. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. She was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes.
Curie discovered radium. It is one of the most radioactive and dangerous metals. She shared this discovery with Pierre Curie and Gustave Bemont. The three found radium in 1898. They discovered it when using a uranium ore. It gave off a lot of radiation. They decided that it was coming from more than uranium. The group found radium in the uranium. Radium is now used for many different things. For example, doctors used to use it to kill cancer cells. Radium was found in paint and watches. Many workers who made radium-containing products developed bone cancer.
Even though Curie became a French citizen, Curie never lost her Polish identity. She graduated first in her class in 1893. One year later she earned a master's degree in mathematics. Later, she met her husband, Pierre, at the Municipal School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry. They were married in July 1895 after only one year. They also started to work together on scientific discoveries. Marie and Pierre had their first daughter, Irene, in 1897. Their second daughter, Eve, was born in 1904. Pierre died on April 19, 1906, after he was hit by a horse-drawn wagon.
After the war, Marie started to raise money for a hospital. The hospital raised money for radiation research. She was invited to tour the United States to recommend and speed up her project. She sailed for the United States in 1921. She collected enough money and equipment for a new laboratory. She then started speaking at meetings to raise more money and became a celebrity. She also supported world peace by serving on the council of the League of Nations.
Near the 1920s, Curie and many of her colleagues began to suffer from symptoms of cancer. Curie began to lose her sight. Cataract surgeries to try to bring back her sight did not help. Curie knew that the element (radium) she discovered might have been causing the symptoms, but she did not want to admit it to herself or others. In the early 1930s, Curie’s health started to quickly get worse. Doctors diagnosed her with pernicious anemia. Pernicious anemia is a blood anemia that happens when someone is overly exposed to radiation. The doctors didn’t tell the public or Curie herself what was going on. On July 4, 1934, at 66 years old, she died in a Sanitorium at the French Alps. She was then buried next to her husband in Sceaux, France. Marie Curie was a physicist and chemist best known for her work on radioactivity; however, she also discovered the elements polonium and radium. She was awarded two Nobel Prizes — one in physics which she won jointly with her husband and Henri Becquerel, and another in chemistry — and was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes. She is still one of only four people (along with Linus Pauling, John Bardeen and Frederick Sanger) to accomplish that feat. Curie is responsible for establishing the theory of radioactivity, but unfortunately she unwittingly also discovered the fatal effect radioactivity can have on your health; she died on July 4, 1934, of aplastic anemia caused by radiation exposure.
Flyover
A flyover is something people do with airplanes or helicopters. It means flying over people who are watching. Sometimes the airplanes fly very low to make it more exciting. The Blue Angels are a special group of pilots that do a lot of flyovers at events.
Sometimes military aircraft fly over the enemy to try to scare the people they are fighting against.
Blue Angels
The Blue Angels are a group of special pilots who work for the US Navy. They fly F/A-18 fighter jet airplanes that are painted to look different from regular Navy planes. They are very famous. Almost every American has heard of them. The pilots of the Blue Angels are very good at what they do. They are able to fly very close to each other and do very difficult tricks. They are most famous for the flyovers they do at many American sporting events.
Stunt performer
A stunt performer, also called a stuntman or stuntwoman, is a person who performs dangerous acts usually within the television or movie production industry. In this line of work the stuntman (or woman) is paid to do those actions that are deemed too dangerous for the regular actor to perform, these include jumping from a height, falling down, being in a car crash, or pretending to fight with weapons such as swords or knives. These stunts are usually presented as a small feature within a larger production.
Action movies, war movies, martial arts movies, and crime television shows use many stunt performers to do the dangerous actions depicted in the movies or shows. Jackie Chan and the Blue Angels are examples of stunt performers who perform this kind of work.
There are, however, other stunt performers that present dangerous stunts to a live audience rather than as part of a larger story. Sometimes these are as standalone effects and sometimes as a feature within a larger stunt show. Escape artists, sword swallowers and other circus and sideshow acts are an example of this. These types of stunt performers can be found scattered throughout history with one of the most famous from the last Century being escape artist Harry Houdini.
Stunt work is dangerous regardless of whether you work in movie, television or within a live stunt show. Stuntmen are often hurt during the stunts they perform and in some cases stuntmen have even been killed.
Stunt work is not steady work. Stuntmen who work in movie are only employed on a movie-by-movie basis, sometimes they are needed for a number of months if they are lucky to double for the lead actor but could quite easily only be needed for a single stunt that is filmed over the space of a day or two.
Within the live stunt industry work is very seasonal. A stuntman can be working long hours during the summer months, often seven days a week, but not at all during the winter period.
Stuntmen who perform for movie and television often benefit from having a large safety crew present, which is in stark contrast to those who perform within live shows who often work alone and are responsible for all aspects of the stunt they perform.
Stuntmen also have to travel to many different regions or countries to get work. For people who like to travel, this may be an advantage. However, it can also make it hard to see friends and relatives, if you are away from home.
To become a stuntman, some people go to a stuntman school. There are stuntman schools in California and Florida, where professional stuntmen teach people how to do stunts. Most people do not go to school to become stuntmen, though. People learn the skills from other more experienced stuntmen.
When a stuntman first begins working as a stuntman, they do not make much money. Once a stuntman has experience, they can ask for more money. In many countries, stuntmen have to join a union to work on movie or television show productions, and pay dues (payments) to the union. There are more men working as stuntmen than women.
Usually, a stuntman within movie and television does not work as a stuntman after they become 40 years old. However those who work live stunt shows continue to do so until very late in life. Kondini continues to work as a sword swallower and escape artist despite being in his 70s. Some experienced stuntmen become stunt coordinators or consultants, who plan and devise the stunts performed in TV shows and movies.