Chemistry - Discovery of Elements

Introduction

• Most likely copper was the first element, which was mined and used by humans.
• The evidence of earliest use of copper was found in Anatolia, which belongs to 6,000 BCE.
• The lead was most likely the second element that humans start using.
• The oldest known artifact of lead is statuette, which was found in a temple of Osiris, Abydos, Egypt.
• The statuette of Osiris temple belongs to (about) 3,800 BCE.
• The oldest known gold treasure was discovered in Varna, Necropolis (Bulgaria).
• This gold treasure belongs to (about) 4,400 BCE.
• Discovery of silver is almost same as of gold; its evidence was found in Asia Minor.
• Some evidence say that the iron was known from (about) 5,000 BCE.
• The oldest known iron objects, which was used by the humans, were found in Egypt (belongs to 4000 BCE).
• The following table illustrates the significant elements with their discovery date and discovers −

Element	Discoverer	Discovery Date
Copper	Middle East (Place)	About 9,000 BCE
Lead	Egypt (Place)	About 7,000 BCE
Gold	Bulgaria (Place)	About 6,000 BCE
Silver	Asia Minor (Place)	About 5,000 BCE
Iron	Egypt (Place)	About 5,000 BCE
Tin		About 3,500 BCE
Sulfur	Chinese/India	About 2,000 BCE
Mercury	Egypt	2,000 BCE
Phosphorus	H. Brand	1669
Cobalt	G. Brandt	1735
Platinum	A. de Ulloa	1748
Nickel	F. Cronstedt	1751
Bismuth	C.F. Geoffroy	1753
Magnesium	J. Black	1755
Hydrogen	H. Cavendish	1766
Oxygen	W. Scheele	1771
Nitrogen	D. Rutherford	1772
Barium	W. Scheele	1772
Chlorine	W. Scheele	1774
Manganese	W. Scheele	1774
Molybdenum	W. Scheele	1781
Tungsten	W. Scheele	1781
Zirconium	H. Klaproth	1789
Uranium	H. Klaproth	1789
Titanium	W. Gregor	1791
Chromium	N. Vauquelin	1797
Beryllium	N. Vauquelin	1798
Vanadium	M. del Río	1801
Potassium	H. Davy	1807
Sodium	H. Davy	1807
Calcium	H. Davy	1808
Boron	L. Gay-Lussac and L.J. Thénard	1808
Fluorine	A. M. Ampère	1810
Iodine	B. Courtois	1811
Lithium	A. Arfwedson	1817
Cadmium	S. L Hermann, F. Stromeyer, and J.C.H. Roloff	1817
Selenium	J. Berzelius and G. Gahn	1817
Silicon	J. Berzelius	1823
Aluminium	H.C.Ørsted	1825
Bromine	J. Balard and C. Löwig	1825
Thorium	J. Berzelius	1829
Lanthanum	G. Mosander	1838
Rubidium	R. Bunsen and G. R. Kirchhoff	1861
Thallium	W. Crookes	1861
Indium	F. Reich and T. Richter	1863
Helium	P. Janssen and N. Lockyer	1868
Neon	W. Ramsay and W. Travers	1898
Xenon	W. Ramsay and W. Travers	1898
Fermium	A. Ghiorso et al	1952
Nobelium	E. D. Donets, V. A. Shchegolev and V. A. Ermakov	1966
Dubnium	A. Ghiorso, M. Nurmia, K. Eskola, J. Harris and P. Eskola	1970
Tennessine	Y. Oganessian et al	2010

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