In 1917, scores of patriotic young girls counted their lucky stars to have secured jobs working at a large warehouse complex in Orange, New Jersey.

The task was tedious and repetitive, but it paid well, and they were pleased to be doing their bit for the war effort.

But little did they know for most girls that this job would also lead to a gruesome, untimely demise.

In fact, when a New Jersey doctor performed autopsies on some of the so-called radium girls in 1928,

he concluded that they were still glowing in their coffins.

And rumor has it, they still glow to this day. To uncover the terrifying, you're listening to be amazed.

To uncover the terrifying truth about the Radium girls, let's first turn our attention to their namesake.

Radium. Back in 1896, French physicist Henri Beccarell was the first to report that the

rocks of the Earth's crust were not all cold, dead chunks of metal and mining materials.

Some parts, like the element, uranium, were strangely alive and even emitted radiation.

His work was continued by newly married physicist Pierre and Marie Curie, who discovered two

new elements that were even more powerful than uranium, one they named polonium after Marie's

Polish homeland, and the other was named radium after radiation itself.

They declared that such elements should henceforth be known as radioactive.

In 1903, all three scientists shared the Nobel Peace Prize in Physics for their pioneering work,

but little did they know radium was set to become

an unexpected breakout star. Not much was known about this new element, other than the fact

it gave off a faint greenish glow, but it wasn't long until scientific research, mostly

paid for by radium companies, came in thick and fast touting its miracle health-giving properties.

Yes, you heard that correctly. Before long, this radioactive element was being used in all

manner of consumer products, from toothpaste to rejuvenating face creams, candy, and even

bottled water that had been fortified with radium, promising to make the drinker sparkle with energy.

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