Timeline of chemical element discovery

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

Table of contents

1 16th century 2 17th century 3 18th century 4 19th century 5 20th century 6 21st century 7 See also

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.
• 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
• 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 - Johann Gadolin discovered Yttrium. After Ytterby (a town in Sweden).
• 1797
  • Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered Titanium
  • Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin discovered Chromium
• 1798 - Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin discovered Beryllium

19th century

• 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
• 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 osmë (odor).
  • Smithson Tennant also discovered Iridium
• 1807
  • Humphrey Davy discovered Potassium. From the Latin word kalium.
  • Humphrey Davy discovered Sodium. From the Latin word natrium (sodium).
• 1808
  • Humphrey Davy discovered Calcium. From the Latin word calcis (lime).
  • Humphrey Davy discovered Barium. From the Greek word barys (heavy).
• 1811 Iodine discovered by Bernard Courtois
• 1817
  • Johann Arfvedson discovered Lithium. From the Greek word 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 Mosander
• 1843
  • Terbium discovered by Carl Mosander
  • Erbium also discovered by Carl 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 1868 Independently by Pierre Janssen and Norman Lockyer From the Greek word 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).
• 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
• 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 dysprositos (hard to get at).
• 1894 - William Ramsey discovered Argon. From the Greek word argon (inactive).
• 1898
  • William Ramsey discovered Neon. From the Greek word neos (new).
  • William Ramsey discovered Krypton. From the Greek word kryptos (hidden).
  • William Ramsey discovered Xenon. From the Greek word xenon (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
• 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
• 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
• 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

*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