Marie Curie was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity.

She was born in Warsaw, Poland on November 7, 1867. During this time, Poland was under the control of the Russian Empire.

Marie was the youngest of five children and both of her parents were teachers. Given that they were both teachers, Marie learned to read and write very early.

By the age of 10, Marie had lost both her mother and oldest sister to illnesses.

Marie and her sister agreed to help pay for each other's university tuitions.

When it was time for Marie to go to university, she went to the University of Paris or, the Sorbonne.

Here she earned her Physics degree.

Eventually she met Pierre Curie, whom she fell in love with.

They got married on July 26, 1895 and had a child named Irene.

Together, they came up with the name "radioactivity."