A ROENTGEN CENTENNIAL LEGACY - THE FIRST USE OF THE X-RAY BY THE US MILITARY IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR

The year 1996 marked the centennial of the advent of the roentgen ray in the United States. The compelling value of this novel scientific di scovery by Professor Wilhelm Roentgen of Wurzberg, Germany, to image t he previously arcane depths of the living human body was astounding an d recognized as a major advance. This report details the work of some key personnel and developments in the science of warfare that confirme d the great promise of the X-ray in the diagnostic armamentarium of mi litary surgeons (a leading proponent being Professor Nicholas Senn, th e founder of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States ) in this last American conflict of the 19th century.