110th anniversary of first successful X-ray diffraction experiment

21 April 2022 marks the 110th anniversary of the observation of X-ray diffraction in crystals by Walter Friedrich, Paul Knipping and Max von Laue, one of the most important discoveries in the history of science (Forman, 1969). Laue went on to win the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1914, sharing the prize money with Friedrich and Knipping, who had performed the experiment at his suggestion.

Further reading

Laue centennial issue – a special issue of Acta Cryst. A containing articles that describe the development of crystallography in the 19th century, the scientific environment in which the Laue experiment took place, the development of diffraction theory, and the history of structure analysis

Max von Laue's memoirs and anecdotes

Report of the 1962 Munich meeting that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the discovery of X-ray diffraction by von Laue and his assistants