Page "Uranium" Paragraph 22

The discovery and isolation of radium in uranium ore ( pitchblende ) by Marie Curie sparked the development of uranium mining to extract the radium, which was used to make glow-in-the-dark paints for clock and aircraft dials.

This left a prodigious quantity of uranium as a waste product, since it takes three tonnes of uranium to extract one gram of radium.

This waste product was diverted to the glazing industry, making uranium glazes very inexpensive and abundant.

Besides the pottery glazes, uranium tile glazes accounted for the bulk of the use, including common bathroom and kitchen tiles which can be produced in green, yellow, mauve, black, blue, red and other colors.