On 8 Nov 1895, German physics professor Wilhelm Rontgen (1845-1923) accidentally discovered x-rays (Rontgen rays) while experimenting with Crookes tubes, the tube that William modifies.
Inspecter Brackenreid wonders where Josephine was "before the bell tolled for her." This is apparently an allusion to Hemingway's novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls," but the book was not published until 1940. The quote "for whom the bells toll" is not an allusion to Ernest Hemingway's book. It is from a poem by John Donne who was born in 1572.
The title "Mary Wept" is an allusion to the bible verse "Jesus wept" John 11:35.