Wilhelm Rontgen was a German physicist who discovered X-rays on Nov 8, 1895.  He performed the first X-ray in human which was his wife's hand on December 22, 1895. Six days later, he reported his findings on the properties of X-rays to the Wurzburg Physical and Medical Society. His original paper was entitled, "Ueber eine neue Art von Strahlen" (On a new kind of rays).

This astonishing news spreaded very quickly across the world and a few months later the medical applications of this new diagnostic modality began. Wilhelm Rontgen was awarded the first  Nobel prize in physics in 1901.

A few weeks after the introduction of the X-ray, the technique of fluoroscopy became available.

Francis Henry Williams, from Boston, was the first to report on the value of fluoroscopy in the examination of the heart.