13. Pierre Curie
In early 1903, physicist Pierre Curie and his wife Marie began experimenting with the effects of radium salts with the hopes of developing a treatment for cancer. Both husband and wife, taped the radium to their bodies, experiencing extreme burns, fatigue and constant pain with the hopes of finding a useful treatment.
Unfortunately, the radium was extremely damaging to their health. Thankfully, the pain and sickness was worth it because they won the Nobel Peace Prize in Physics later that year for their radiation research. This would pave the way for future cancer treatments utilizing radiation.