Discovery Dates

At the end of the 17th century only 14 elements where known. Metals like iron, copper, silver and gold, and non-metals like sulfur, carbon, and phosphorus have been described. Discovery dates of elements which are already known since the classical anitique or even prehistoric times are very uncertain. Depending on the source the dates may vary by several centuries. Precise dates are available only since the 18th century.

Most elements were discovered and described in the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century only ten of the natural elements were still undiscovered. In the 20th century mostly radioactive elements, that means elements which are not present in nature, have been synthesized. In December 1994, for instance, the artificial elements eka-platinum (110-Unnunnilium) and eka-gold (111-Unnununium) have been created.

Z	Name	Year	Discoverer	Country
1	Hydrogen	1766	Cavendish	England
2	Helium	1895	Ramsay and Cleve	Scottland and Sweden
3	Lithium	1817	Arfvedson	Sweden
4	Beryllium	1797	Vauquelin	France
5	Boron	1808	Davy and Gay-Lussac	England and France
6	Carbon	5000 B.C.	unknown	unknown
7	Nitrogen	1772	Rutherford	Scottland
8	Oxygen	1774	Priestley and Scheele	England and Sweden
9	Fluorine	1886	Moissan	France
10	Neon	1898	Ramsay and Travers	England
11	Sodium	1807	Davy	England
12	Magnesium	1755	Black	Scottland
13	Aluminium	1825	Oersted	Denmark
14	Silicon	1824	Berzelius	Sweden
15	Phosphorus	1669	Brandt	Germany
16	Sulfur	5000 B.C.	unknown	unknown
17	Chlorine	1774	Scheele	Sweden
18	Argon	1894	Ramsay and Rayleigh	Scottland
19	Potassium	1807	Davy	England
20	Calcium	1808	Davy	England
21	Scandium	1879	Nilson	Sweden
22	Titanium	1791	Gregor and Klaproth	England
23	Vanadium	1801	del Rio	Mexico
24	Chromium	1797	Vauquelin	France
25	Manganese	1774	Gahn	Sweden
26	Iron	2000 B.C.	unknown	unknown
27	Cobalt	1735	Brandt	Sweden
28	Nickel	1751	Cronstedt	Sweden
29	Copper	5000 B.C.	unknown	unknown
30	Zinc	2000 B.C.	unknown	unknown
31	Gallium	1875	Lecoq de Boiskaudran	France
32	Germanium	1886	Winkler	Germany
33	Arsenic	ca.1250	Magnus	Germany
34	Selenium	1817	Berzelius	Sweden
35	Bromine	1826	Balard	France
36	Krypton	1898	Ramsay and Travers	England
37	Rubidium	1861	Bunsen and Kirchhoff	Germany
38	Strontium	1790	Crawford	Scottland
39	Yttrium	1794	Gadolin	Finland
40	Zirconium	1789	Klaproth	Germany
41	Niobium	1801	Hatchet	England
42	Molybdenum	1778	Scheele	Sweden
43	Technetium	1937	Perrier and Segrè	Italy
44	Ruthenium	1844	Claus	Russia
45	Rhodium	1803	Wollaston	England
46	Palladium	1803	Wollaston	England
47	Silver	4000 B.C.	unknown	unknown
48	Cadmium	1817	Stromeyer and Hermann	Germany
49	Indium	1863	Reich and Richter	Germany
50	Tin	2500 B.C.	unknown	unknown
51	Antimony	3000 B.C.	unknown	unknown
52	Tellurium	1782	von Reichenstein	Rumania
53	Iodine	1811	Courtois	France
54	Xenon	1898	Ramsay and Travers	England
55	Caesium	1860	Kirchhoff and Bunsen	Germany
56	Barium	1808	Davy	England
57	Lanthanum	1839	Mosander	Sweden
58	Cerium	1803	von Hisinger and Berzelius	Germany and Sweden
59	Praseodymium	1895	von Welsbach	Austria
60	Neodymium	1895	von Welsbach	Austria
61	Promethium	1945	Marinsky and Glendenin	U.S.A.
62	Samarium	1879	Lecoq de Boisbaudran	France
63	Europium	1901	Demarcay	France
64	Gadolinium	1880	de Marignac	Switzerland
65	Terbium	1843	Mosander	Sweden
66	Dysprosium	1886	Lecoq de Boisbaudran	France
67	Holmium	1878	Soret	Switzerland
68	Erbium	1842	Mosander	Sweden
69	Thulium	1879	Cleve	Sweden
70	Ytterbium	1878	de Marignac	Switzerland
71	Lutetium	1907	Urbain	France
72	Hafnium	1923	Coster and von Hevesy	Denmark
73	Tantalum	1802	Ekeberg	Sweden
74	Tungsten	1783	de Elhuyar brothers	Spanien
75	Rhenium	1925	Noddack, Tacke and Berg	Germany
76	Osmium	1803	Tenant	England
77	Iridium	1803	Tenant et al.	England and France
78	Platinum	1557	Scaliger	Italy
79	Gold	5000 B.C.	unknown	unknown
80	Mercury	1500 B.C.	unknown	unknown
81	Thallium	1861	Crookes	England
82	Lead	2500 B.C.	unknown	unknown
83	Bismuth	1540	Agricola	Germany
84	Polonium	1898	Marie and Pierre Curie	France
85	Astatine	1940	Corson and MacKenzie	U.S.A.
86	Radon	1900	Dorn	Germany
87	Francium	1939	Perey	France
88	Radium	1898	Marie and Pierre Curie	France
89	Actinium	1899	Debierne	France
90	Thorium	1829	Berzelius	Sweden
91	Protactinium	1917	Soddy, Cranston and Hahn	England and Germany
92	Uranium	1789	Klaproth	Germany
93	Neptunium	1940	McMillan and Abelson	U.S.A.
94	Plutonium	1940	Seaborg (A.G.)	U.S.A.
95	Americium	1944	Seaborg (A.G.)	U.S.A.
96	Curium	1944	Seaborg (A.G.)	U.S.A.
97	Berkelium	1949	Seaborg (A.G.)	U.S.A.
98	Californium	1950	Seaborg (A.G.)	U.S.A.
99	Einsteinium	1952	Seaborg (A.G.)	U.S.A.
100	Fermium	1952	Seaborg (A.G.)	U.S.A.
101	Mendelevium	1955	Seaborg (A.G.)	U.S.A.
102	Nobelium	1958	Seaborg (A.G.)	U.S.A.
103	Lawrencium	1961	Ghiorso (A.G.)	U.S.A.
104	Rutherfordium	1964/69	Flerow or Ghiorso	Soviet Union/U.S.A.
105	Dubnium	1967/70	Flerow or Ghiorso	Soviet Union/U.S.A.
106	Seaborgium	1974	Oganessian (A.G.)	Soviet Union/U.S.A.
107	Bohrium	1976	Oganessian (A.G.)	Soviet Union/U.S.A.
108	Hassium	1984	Ges. f. Schwerionenforsch.	Germany
109	Meitnerium	1982	Ges. f. Schwerionenforsch.	Germany
110	Unnunnilium	1994	Ges. f. Schwerionenforsch.	Germany
111	Unnununium	1994	Ges. f. Schwerionenforsch.	Germany