Curie was a two-time Nobel Prize winner and the only person to receive the honor in two separate scientific disciplines — the latter a distinction she still holds today. In 1903, Curie, alongside her husband and another scientist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of radioactivity, a term Curie coined herself. In 1911, she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of polonium and radium.

Curie stood to profit from her achievements if she patented her findings, but she insisted instead that they be shared widely. As a result, she found herself without the financial means to buy more radium to continue her research.

“Marie Curie had always worked in very humble, very modest conditions,” said Cliff Carpenter, site manager for LM’s Canonsburg site. “She was very unselfish with her discoveries, refusing to have any type of intellectual property claim over them, so she really opened up her findings to the world. She did it for science, not for profit.”

To continue her life’s work, Curie set out on an international mission. Her path to radium procurement ultimately led her to a chemical plant 18 miles south of Pittsburgh at the current location of LM’s Canonsburg site. The month of November marks Curie’s birthday, so in honor of this trailblazing scientist and her invaluable contributions to nuclear exploration, this is a small chapter of her prodigious work.