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9000 BCE
First notable mention of copper discovery
Used for small tools and decorative purposes, humans had not yet fully grasped the mechanics behind smelting and shaping metals yet. -
Period: 5000 BCE to 2500 BCE
Chalcolithic Period
Mesopotamians were the first to truly harness the strengths of copper; they were the first to extract and shape it, and in their attempts to improve it's properties they accidentally discovered a much stronger metal; bronze. -
3500 BCE
Lead
Whilst it's believed that lead smelting occurred roughly 9000 years ago, the oldest known artifact is dated circa 3800 B.C, and it's believed that lead became popular in smelting around this time. -
3000 BCE
First documented use of Gold
Gold was seen as valuable to most due to it's high lustre; many were impressed by it's sheen and colour. The first firm evidence of gold usage lies with the ancient Egyptians roughly 5000 years ago; it was prized by pharaohs and priests alike - The caps of the Pyramids of Giza were sculpted from solid gold. -
2000 BCE
Documented smelting of iron from iron ore
Documented smelting of iron ore by the Chinese -
2000 BCE
Mercury
Was known by the Chinese around 200 B.C, famously involved in the terracotta warriors. -
1500 BCE
Smelted Iron objects become much more common
A lot more iron artifacts were discovered in Mesoptamia, Anatolia and Egypt. 19 iron objects were found in Tutankhamun's tomb (died 1323 BC); a dagger with a gold hilt, an Eye of Horus, the headstand for his body and 16 artisans' tools. This shows that iron was used in weapon forging very early on, likely due to it's high strength - iron greatly outclassed bronze. -
1200 BCE
Iron smelting becomes common
Iron became the dominant metal worldwide as technology spread. Iron replaced bronze in the creation of tools and weapons as it was much stronger and more durable as a material. At first, only wrought iron was used, but with the discovery of carburization we were able to create steels, which were much more malleable and strong -
Period: 1200 BCE to 546 BCE
Lydia
The Lydian kingdom was a kingdom that arose during the Iron Age, and is most notable for being the genesis of gold/silver coins as a means of currency. -
Period: 1250 to
Arsenic, Antimony, Platinum, Cobalt
1250, 1540, 1557, 1735 respectively -
Period: to
American Revolution - French Revolution
Bismuth (1753), Manganese (1774), Molybdenum (1781), Tellurium (1782), Tungsten (1783) and Zirconium (1789) are all discovered. -
Nickel
Discovered by Swedish chemist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt in 1751, today it is commonly used in creating corrosion resistant alloys. -
Period: to
Yttrium and Berylium
Discovered in 1794 and 1797 respectively -
Titanium
Discovered in the 18th century, however it was not utilised in construction due to impurities within the metal. -
Chromium
Discovered by Louis-Nicholas Vauquelin who created chromium oxide by reacting crocoite with hydrochloric acid. Today, Chromium is commonly alloyed with iron to create stainless steels. -
Period: to
1800-1875
Niobium (1801)
Tantalum (1802)
Iridium, Palladium, Rhodium (1803)
Potassium, Sodium (1807)
Boron, Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, Strontium (1808)
Cerium (1814)
Lithium, Cadmium, Selenium (1817)
Thorium (1828)
Vanadium (1830)
Lanthanum (1839)
Erbium, Terbium (1843)
Ruthenium (1844)
Caesium, Rubidium (1860)
Thallium (1861)
Indium (1863)
Gallium (1875) -
Discovery of aluminium
Humphry Davy discovered that aluminium could be produced from the electrolytic reduction of aluminium oxide, but could not prove this theory in practice. -
Discovery of aluminium ore
Geologist Pierre Berthier discovered reddish clay rock deposits in the Le Baux area in France, and hence he named the ore 'Bauxite'. -
Silicon
Discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius who originally believed that the element was not a metal, hence the -on suffix. It is often alloyed with other metals to improve their casting properties. -
Uranium
Frenchman Eugène-Melchior Péligot extracts uranium from uranium tetrachloride by heating it with Potassium. Today, it is commonly used in nuclear weapons alongside nuclear reactors for power. -
Retention of physical aluminium globules
Friedrich Woehler extended off the work of Hans Christian, who had managed to extract an aluminium alloy. In 1845, Woehler managed to extract small globules of aluminium from around 30 grams of aluminium powder; this took 18 years of continuous experimentation -
Period: to
Remainder of the 19th century
Holmium, Thulium, Scandium, Samarium, Gadolinium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Dysprosium (1878 - 1885)
Germanium (1886)
Actinium (1899)
Polonium and Radium (1898) -
Period: to
A few uses for aluminium
Alfred Nobel directed the creation of 'Le Migron' in 1891 - the first passenger boat to use an aluminium hull.
Scottish shipbuilders 'Yarrow and Co.' created the 'Sokol', a 58 metre aluminium torpedo boat that could accelerate to a speed of 32 knots (roughly 60kph), a record speed at the time. - 1894
Karl Benz created a sports car with an aluminium body - presented at an exhibition in Berlin in 1900. -
Period: to
1900 - The end of WW2
Europium (1901)
Lutetium (1907)
Protactinium (1917)
Hafnium (1923)
Rhenium (1924)
Technetium (1937)
Francium (1939)
Promethium (1945) -
Aviation use
Wilbur and Orville Wright flew a plane with an engine that was constructed from aluminium parts; this was the first ever plane to become airborne. -
Invention of Duralumin (and the beginning of aluminium alloys)
The result of 7 years of hard work by German scientist Alfred Wilm; consisted of aluminium alloyed with copper, magnesium and manganese. This alloy was just as lightweight, however it boasted significant improvements to strength, hardness and elasticity, and hence it became very popular in the aviation industry. -
Period: to
Superalloys
Technological advancements have allowed humans to create incredibly strong metals known as 'superalloys', which exhibit extremely high levels of strength as well as resistance to thermal and corrosive stresses. Current superalloys are extremely strong albeit expensive, and there is no doubt that newer, stronger superalloys will be created as our technology improves -
The first time aluminium was the main material in a construction project
The Empire State Building was built in 1931, and it remained the the tallest building worldwide until 1972 at which point it was superceded by the World Trade Center. -
Period: to
Transuranium elements
Neptunium, Plutonium, Curium, Americium, Berkelium, Californium, Einsteinium, Fermium, Mendelevium, Nobelium, Lawrencium -
First artificial satellite launched into space
The first satellite was launched by the USSR in 1957, and it was constructed of 2 separate aluminium hemispheres. -
Genesis of the aluminium can
The aluminium can was introduced as a symbol of environmental friendliness and cleanliness.