Images Dated 18th May 2009

Edmond de Goncourt, French author, 1868

Edmond de Goncourt, French author, 1868. Goncourt (1822-1896) was an author, critic and publisher. He bequeathed his entire estate for the foundation of the Academie Goncourt, which, since 1903, awards the Prix Goncourt, the most prestigious award in French literature. A photograph from Album de Photographies dans L'Intimite de Personnages Illustres, 1860-1925, 9th album, Editions MD, Paris

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The Eiffel Tower under construction, Paris, c1888

The Eiffel Tower under construction, Paris, c1888. Designed by the French civil engineer Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923), the Eiffel Tower was built for the International Exhibition staged in Paris in 1889 to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. Constructed from iron, it was the tallest building in the world until 1930. A photograph from Album de Photographies dans L'Intimite de Personnages Illustres, 1860-1905, 3rd album, Editions MD, Paris

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Henri Becquerel, French physicist, late 19th or early 20th century

Henri Becquerel, French physicist, late 19th or early 20th century. In 1896 Becquerel (1852-1908) discovered that uranium, when placed on a sealed, light-tight photographic plate, exposed the plate, producing an image of the uranium on the developed plate. He deduced that uranium was emitting an invisible but penetrating radiation. In 1903 he shared the Nobel prize for physics with Pierre and Marie Curie. A photograph from Album de Photographies dans L'Intimite de Personnages Illustres, 1860-1920, 6th album, Editions MD, Paris

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