mysterious rays

Did you know that x-rays were named as such, because the inventor didn’t know the nature of this discovery at that time?
On November 8, 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, a German physicist, noticed that a fluorescent screen across his laboratory room started to glow when the electron beam of his tube was turned on while he was experimenting on light phenomena and other emissions coming from gas discharge tubes.
The discovery would have not been surprising, because fluorescent materials normally glow in reaction to electromagnetic radiation, but Roentgen’s tube was surrounded by heavy black cardboard blocked most of the radiation.
Realizing that he discovered something interesting but not sure about his observations, Roentgen pressed on. When he placed various objects between the tube and the screen (paper, thick book, and solid block of wood), the screen still glowed.
Over the next seven weeks, Roentgen explored the mysterious rays and finally, he discovered their most beneficial application by putting his hand in front of the tube. He saw the silhouette of his bones projected on the fluorescent screen.
On December 28, 1895, Roentgen sent a preliminary report of his experiments to the Wurzburg Physical-Medical Society, accompanied by experimental radiographs and by the image of his wife’s hand. In January 1896, the world experienced an “X-ray mania” and Roentgen celebrated as the discoverer of a medical miracle. He was awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics in 1901 for his phenomenal discovery.

(Roentgen and the Discovery of X-rays. xray.hmc.psu.edu. x-rays, discovery and early scientific use. infoplease.com)