Online Encyclopedia
Timeline of chemical element discovery
Some elements have been known since time immemorial. Most have been discovered in historic times.
Contents |
16th century
- 1526 - Zinc discovered by Paracelsus
17th century
- 1669 - Phosphorus discovered by Hening Brand
18th century
- 1737 - George Brandt, discovered Cobalt. From the German word kobalt or kobold (evil spirit).
- 1741 - Platinum discovered by Charles Wood
- 1751 - Axel Frederik Cronstedt isolates nickel from niccolite.
- 1753 - Bismuth discovered by Claude Geoffroy Junine
- 1755 - Joseph Black discovers Magnesium
- 1766 - Henry Cavendish discovered Hydrogen. From the Greek words hudôr (water) and gennan (generate).
- 1772 - Daniel Rutherford discovers nitrogen.
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1774
- Joseph Priestley discovered Oxygen. From the Greek words oxus (acid) and gennan (generate).
- Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered chlorine.
- 1774 - Manganese by J. G. Gahn
- 1776 - Hydrogen isolated and described by Henry Cavendish, named by Antoine Lavoisier
- 1778 - Molybdenum was discovered Carl Wilhelm Scheele
- 1782 - Franz Joseph Müller Freiherr von Reichenstein , discovered Tellurium. From Latin word Tellus (earth).
- 1783 - Tungsten discovered by brothers José Elhuyar and Fausto Elhuyar
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1789
- Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered Uranium. After the planet Uranus.
- Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered Zirconium. Named from Zircon (mineral).
- 1793 - Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered Strontium
- 1794 - Johan Gadolin discovered Yttrium. After Ytterby (a town in Sweden).
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1797
- Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered Titanium
- Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin discovered Chromium
- 1798 - Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin discovered Beryllium
19th century
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1801
- Andres Manuel del Rio discovers Vanadium, not verified until 1831
- Columbium discovered by Charles Hatchett, later it is renamed Niobium
- 1802 - Tantalum discovered by Anders Ekeberg
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1803
- Cerium Martin Heinrich Klaproth; Jöns Jacob Berzelius and Hisinger
- Rhodium discovered by William Hyde Wollaston
- William Hyde Wollaston also discovered Palladium
- Smithson Tennant discovered Osmium. From the Greek word ὀσμή osmë (odor).
- Smithson Tennant also discovered Iridium
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1807
- Humphrey Davy discovered Potassium. From the Latin word kalium.
- Humphrey Davy discovered Sodium. From the Latin word natrium (sodium).
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1808
- Humphrey Davy discovered Calcium. From the Latin word calcis (lime).
- Humphrey Davy discovered Barium. From the Greek word βαρύς barys (heavy).
- 1811 Iodine discovered by Bernard Courtois
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1817
- Johann Arfvedson discovered Lithium. From the Greek word λίθος lithos (stone).
- Cadmium independently discovered by Friedrich Strohmeyer and K.S.L Hermann
- Selenium discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius
- 1823 - Silicon discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius
- 1825 - Aluminium discovered by Hans Christian Ørsted
- 1826 - Bromine discovered by Antoine Jerome Balard
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1828
- Thorium discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius
- Beryllium - Independently discovered by Friedrich Wöhler and A.A.B. Bussy
- 1839 - Lanthanum discovered by Carl Mosander
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1843
- Terbium discovered by Carl Mosander
- Erbium also discovered by Carl Mosander
- 1844 - Ruthenium discovered by Karl Klaus
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1860
- Caesium discovered by Robert Bunsen
- Rubidium discovered by Robert Bunsen
- 1861 - Thallium discovered by Sir William Crookes
- 1863 - Indium discovered by Ferdinand Reich and Theodor Richter
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1868
- Helium 1868 Independently by Pierre Janssen and Norman Lockyer From the Greek word ἥλιος hêlios (sun).
- Boron 1868 Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac & L.J. Thenard
- 1875 - Gallium 1875 Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran
- 1878 - Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac discovered Ytterbium. After Ytterby (a town in Sweden).
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1879
- Thulium discovered by Per Teodor Cleve
- Scandium discovered by Lars Fredrick Nilson
- Holmium discovered by Marc Delafontaine & Jacques Louis Soret
- Samarium discovered by Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran
- 1880 - Gadolinium discovered by Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac
- 1885
- Praseodymium discovered by Carl Auer von Welsbach
- Carl Auer von Welsbach also discovered Neodymium
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1886
- Clemens Winkler discovered Germanium
- Joseph Henri Moissan discovered Fluorine. From the Latin word fluo (flow).
- Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran discovered Dysprosium. From the Greek word δυσπρόσιτος dysprositos (hard to get at).
- 1894 - William Ramsey discovered Argon. From the Greek word ἀργός argon (inactive).
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1898
- William Ramsey discovered Neon. From the Greek word νέος neos (new).
- William Ramsey discovered Krypton. From the Greek word κρυπτός kryptos (hidden).
- William Ramsey discovered Xenon. From the Greek word ξένος xenos (stranger).
- Friedrich Ernst Dorn discovered Radon. From Radium.
- Pierre and Marie Curie discovered Polonium. From Poland.
- Radon discovered by Fredrich Ernst Dorn who called it nitron
- 1899 Actinium discovered by André-Louis Debierne
20th century
- 1901 - Eugene Demarcay discovered Europium
- 1907 - Georges Urbain discovered Lutetium. From Lutetia (ancient name of Paris).
- 1917 - Protactinium discovered by Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn
- 1923 - Hafnium discovered by Dirk Coster
- 1925 - Rhenium discovered by Walter Noddack and Ida Tacke
- 1937 - Carlo Perrier discovered Technetium
- 1939 - Francium discovered by Marguerite Derey
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1940
- Astatine discovered by Dale R. Corson , K.R.Mackenzie , Emilio Segre'
- Neptunium discovered by E.M. McMillan & Philip H. Abelson at the University of California, Berkeley
- 1941 - Plutonium discovered by Glenn T. Seaborg, Arthur C. Wahl , Joseph W. Kennedy , Emilio Segré
- 1944 - Curium discovered by Glenn T. Seaborg
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1945
- Americium discovered by Glenn T. Seaborg
- Promethium discovered by J.A. Marinsky
- 1949 - Berkelium discovered by Albert Ghiorso, Glenn T. Seaborg, Stanley G. Thompson , Kenneth Street Jr.
- 1950 - Californium discovered by Albert Ghiorso, Glenn T. Seaborg
- 1952 - Einsteinium discovered by Argonne Laboratory, Los Alamos Laboratory, and University of California
- 1953 - Fermium discovered by Argonne Laboratory, Los Alamos Laboratory, and University of California
- 1955 - Mendelevium discovered by Glenn T. Seaborg, Evans G. Valens
- 1958 - Nobel Institute for Physics discovered Nobelium. Named after Alfred Nobel.
- 1961 - Albert Ghiorso discovered Lawrencium. After Ernest Lawrence.
- 1964 - Rutherfordium discovered by the Joint Nuclear Research Institute at Dubna, U.S.S.R.
- 1970 - Albert Ghiorso discovered Dubnium. After Dubna, Russia .
- 1974 - Seaborgium discovered by Joint Nuclear Research Institute ? and University of California, Berkeley
- 1976 - Bohrium discovered by Y. Oganessian et al, Dubna and confirmed at GSI (1982)
- 1982 - Meitnerium discovered by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg, GSI
- 1984 - Hassium discovered by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg
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1994
- Darmstadtium discovered by S. Hofmann, V. Ninov et al, GSI
- Unununium discovered by S. Hofmann, V. Ninov et al, GSI
- 1996 - Ununbium discovered by S. Hofmann, V. Ninov et al, GSI
- 1999 - Ununquadium discovered by Joint Nuclear Research Institute at Dubna
21st century
- 2001 - Ununhexium discovered by Joint Nuclear Research Institute at Dubna
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2004 (awaiting confirmation)
- Ununtrium - Joint Nuclear Research Institute and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Ununpentium - Joint Nuclear Research Institute and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
See also
Last updated: 01-09-2005 23:48:54