Tesla accidentally created an X-ray image a year before their discovery, then threw it away

aakashgupta · x · 2026-08-20

In 1894, while photographing Mark Twain, Nikola Tesla accidentally captured one of the first X-ray images ever made. Unaware of X-rays, he mistook the shadow of the camera's metal screw for a botched exposure and discarded the plate. Tragically, his lab burned down in March 1895, destroying all his plates and notes. Eight months later, Röntgen announced the discovery of X-rays and won the first Nobel Prize in Physics. Tesla never claimed priority but later designed a sharper tube of his own.

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