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Johann Wilhelm Ritter

A portrait of Johann Wilhelm Ritter, a German physicist and chemist from 1776 to 1810, wearing formal attire with a white cravat and dark coat, set against a dark background.

German physicist and chemist (1776–1810) who in 1801 discovered ultraviolet radiation by observing that silver chloride darkened more rapidly when exposed to light just beyond the violet end of the spectrum than to violet itself. A romantic-era polymath, he also did pioneering work on electrochemistry and dry-cell batteries before dying in poverty at thirty-three.

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