Timeline of chemical element discovery - Definition and Overview

Some elements have been known since time immemorial. Most have been discovered in historic times.

Antiquity

• antiquity - Carbon
• antiquity - Gold
• antiquity - Silver
• antiquity - Copper
• antiquity - Sulfur
• antiquity - Tin
• antiquity - Lead
• antiquity - Mercury
• antiquity - Iron

13th century

• 1250 - Arsenic discovered by Albertus Magnus

15th century

• 1450 - Antimony first described by Tholden

16th century

• 1526 - Zinc discovered by Paracelsus

17th century

• 1669 - Phosphorus discovered by Hening Brand

18th century

• 1737 - Cobalt discovered by Georg Brandt. From the German word kobalt or kobold (evil spirit).
• 1741 - Platinum discovered by Charles Wood
• 1751 - Nickel isolated from niccolite by Axel Fredrik Cronstedt.
• 1753 - Bismuth discovered by Claude Geoffroy Junine
• 1755 - Magnesium discovered by Joseph Black.
• 1766 - Hydrogen discovered by Henry Cavendish. From the Greek words hudôr (water) and gennan (generate).
• 1772 - Nitrogen discovered by Daniel Rutherford .
• 1774
  • Oxygen discovered by Joseph Priestley. From the Greek words oxus (acid) and gennan (generate).
  • Chlorine discovered by Carl Wilhelm Scheele.
• 1774 - Manganese by Johan Gottlieb Gahn
• 1776 - Hydrogen isolated and described by Henry Cavendish, named by Antoine Lavoisier
• 1778 - Molybdenum was discovered Carl Wilhelm Scheele
• 1782 - Tellurium discovered by Franz Joseph Müller Freiherr von Reichenstein. From Latin word Tellus (earth).
• 1783 - Tungsten discovered by brothers José Elhuyar and Fausto Elhuyar
• 1789
  • Uranium discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth. After the planet Uranus.
  • Zirconium discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth. Named from Zircon (mineral).
• 1793 - Strontium discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth
• 1794 - Yttrium discovered by Johan Gadolin. After Ytterby (a town in Sweden).
• 1797
  • Titanium discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth
  • Chromium discovered by Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin
• 1798 - Beryllium discovered by Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin

19th century

• 1801
  • Vanadium discovered by Andrés Manuel del Río, not verified until 1831
  • Columbium discovered by Charles Hatchett, later it is renamed Niobium
• 1802 - Tantalum discovered by Anders Ekeberg
• 1803
  • Cerium discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth; Jöns Jacob Berzelius and Wilhelm Hisinger
  • Rhodium discovered by William Hyde Wollaston
  • Palladium also discovered by William Hyde Wollaston.
  • Osmium discovered by Smithson Tennant. From the Greek word ὀσμή osmë (odor).
  • Iridium also discovered by Smithson Tennant.
• 1807
  • Potassium discovered Humphry Davy. From the Latin word kalium.
  • Sodium discovered Humphry Davy. From the Latin word natrium (sodium).
• 1808
  • Calcium discovered Humphry Davy. From the Latin word calcis (lime).
  • Barium discovered Humphry Davy. From the Greek word βαρύς barys (heavy).
  • Boron discovered by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac & L.J. Thenard
• 1811 Iodine discovered by Bernard Courtois
• 1817
  • Lithium discovered by Johan August Arfwedson. 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
• 1828
  • Thorium discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius
  • Beryllium - Independently discovered by Friedrich Wöhler and A.A.B. Bussy
• 1839 - Lanthanum discovered by Carl Gustaf Mosander
• 1843
  • Terbium discovered by Carl Gustaf Mosander
  • Erbium also discovered by Carl Gustaf Mosander
• 1844 - Ruthenium discovered by Karl Klaus
• 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
• 1868
  • Helium Independently by Pierre Janssen and Norman Lockyer From the Greek word ἥλιος hêlios (sun).
• 1875 - Gallium 1875 Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran
• 1878 - Ytterbium discovered by Jean Charles Galissard de Marignac. After Ytterby (a town in Sweden).
• 1879
  • Thulium discovered by Per Teodor Cleve
  • Scandium discovered by Lars Fredrik 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.
• Neodymium also discovered by Carl Auer von Welsbach.
• 1886
  • Germanium discovered by Clemens Winkler.
  • Fluorine discovered by Joseph Henri Moissan. From the Latin word fluo (flow).
  • Dysprosium discovered by Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran. From the Greek word δυσπρόσιτος dysprositos (hard to get at).
• 1894 - Argon discovered by William Ramsay. From the Greek word ἀργός argon (inactive).
• 1898
  • Neon discovered by William Ramsay. From the Greek word νέος neos (new).
  • Krypton discovered by William Ramsay. From the Greek word κρυπτός kryptos (hidden).
  • Xenon discovered by William Ramsay. From the Greek word ξένος xenos (stranger).
  • Radium discovered by Pierre Curie and Marie Curie. From the Latin word radius, rays
  • Radon discovered by Friedrich Ernst Dorn. From Radium.
  • Polonium discovered Pierre and Marie Curie. From Poland.
  • Radon discovered by Fredrich Ernst Dorn who called it nitron
• 1899 Actinium discovered by André-Louis Debierne.

20th century

• 1901 - Europium discovered by Eugene Demarcay.
• 1907 - Lutetium discovered by Georges Urbain. 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 - Technetium discovered Carlo Perrier.
• 1939 - Francium discovered by Marguerite Derey
• 1940
  • Astatine discovered by Dale R. Corson, K.R.Mackenzie, Emilio G. Segrè
  • 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 G. Segrè
• 1944 - Curium discovered by Glenn T. Seaborg
• 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 - Nobelium discovered at Nobel Institute for Physics. Named after Alfred Nobel.
• 1961 - Lawrencium discovered by Albert Ghiorso. After Ernest Lawrence.
• 1964 - Rutherfordium discovered by the Joint Nuclear Research Institute at Dubna, U.S.S.R.
• 1970 - Dubnium discovered by Albert Ghiorso. 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
• 1994
  • Darmstadtium discovered by S. Hofmann, V. Ninov et al, GSI
  • Roentgenium 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
• 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

• Discoveries of the chemical elements