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Who discovered the element gold, silver, copper, neon, etc...?

Below is a list of all of the known elements, who they were discovered by and the year they were discovered. Some elements, such as gold, silver and iron, have been known since ancient times, so it is impossible to credit a single person for their discovery. Other elements were discovered around the same time by two or more scientists who were working independently of each other. In these cases, each scientist is listed along with the year they made their discovery. Other elements were discovered by teams of scientists working together. In cases like this, the known members of the team are listed along with a single year of discovery. Click on an element's name for the full story!

Element NameDiscovered ByYear
ActiniumAndré-Louis Debierne1899
AluminumHans Christian Oersted1825
AmericiumGlenn T. Seaborg
Ralph A. James
Leon O. Morgan
Albert Ghiorso
1944
AntimonyKnown since ancient times?
ArgonSir William Ramsay
Lord Rayleigh
1894
ArsenicKnown since ancient times?
AstatineDale R. Carson
K.R. MacKenzie
Emilio Segrè
1940
BariumSir Humphry Davy1808
BerkeliumStanley G. Thompson
Glenn T. Seaborg
Kenneth Street, Jr.
Albert Ghiorso
1949
BerylliumLouis-Nicholas Vauquelin1798
BismuthClaude Geoffroy the Younger1753
BohriumScientists at Dubna, Russia1976
BoronJoseph-Louis Gay-Lussac
Louis-Jaques Thénard
Sir Humphry Davy
1808
 
1808
BromineAntoine-Jérôme Balard1826
CadmiumFriedrich Strohmeyer1817
CalciumSir Humphry Davy1808
CaliforniumStanley G. Thompson
Glenn T. Seaborg
Kenneth Street, Jr.
Albert Ghiorso
1950
CarbonKnown since ancient times?
CeriumJöns Jacob Berzelius
Wilhelm von Hisinger
Martin Heinrich Klaproth
1803
 
1803
CesiumRobert Wilhelm Bunsen
Gustav Robert Kirchoff
1860
ChlorineCarl Wilhelm Scheele1774
ChromiumLouis-Nicholas Vauquelin1797
CobaltGeorg Brandt1739
CoperniciumPeter Armbruster
Gottfried Münzenber
1996
CopperKnown since ancient times?
CuriumGlenn T. Seaborg
Ralph A. James
Albert Ghiorso
1944
DarmstadtiumPeter Armbruster
Gottfried Münzenber
1994
DubniumScientists at Dubna, Russia
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
1967
1970
DysprosiumPaul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran1886
EinsteiniumAlbert Ghiorso et. al.1952
ErbiumCarl Gustaf Mosander1843
EuropiumEugène-Antole Demarçay1896
FermiumAlbert Ghiorso et. al.1952
FleroviumScientists at Dubna, Russia with
Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
1998
FluorineFerdinand Frederic Henri Moissan1886
FranciumMarguerite Catherine Perey1939
GadoliniumJean Charles Galissard de Marignac1880
GalliumPaul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran1875
GermaniumClemens Winkler1886
GoldKnow to the Ancients?
HafniumDirk Coster
Charles de Hevesy
1923
HassiumPeter Armbruster
Gottfried Münzenber
1984
HeliumPierre-Jules-César Janssen1868
HolmiumPer Theodor Cleve1879
HydrogenHenry Cavendish1766
IndiumFerdinand Reich
Hieronymus Theodor Richter
1863
IodineBarnard Courtois1811
IridiumSmithson Tennant1803
IronKnown since ancient times?
KryptonSir William Ramsay
Morris M. Travers
1898
LanthanumCarl Gustaf Mosander1839
LawrenciumAlbert Ghiorso
Torbjørn Sikkeland
Almon E. Larsh
Robert M. Latimer
1961
LeadKnown since ancient times?
LithiumJohann August Arfvedson1817
LivermoriumScientists at Dubna, Russia with
Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
2001
LutetiumGeorges Urbain1907
MagnesiumSir Humphry Davy1808
ManganeseJohan Gottlieb Gahn1774
MeitneriumPeter Armbruster
Gottfried Münzenber
1982
MendeleviumStanley G. Thompson
Glenn T. Seaborg
Bernard G. Harvey
Gregory R. Choppin
Albert Ghiorso
1955
MercuryKnown since ancient times?
MolybdenumCarl Welhelm Scheele1778
MoscoviumY. T. Oganessian et. al.2004
NeodymiumCarl F. Auer von Welsbach1885
NeonSir William Ramsay
Morris M. Travers
1898
NeptuniumEdwin M. McMillian
Philip H. Abelson
1940
NickelAxel Fredrik Cronstedt1751
NihoniumY. T. Oganessian et. al.2004
NiobiumCharles Hatchett1801
NitrogenDaniel Rutherford1772
NobeliumAlbert Ghiorso
Glenn T. Seaborg
Torbørn Sikkeland
John R. Walton
1958
OganessonY. T. Oganessian et. al.2006
OsmiumSmithson Tennant1803
OxygenJoseph Priestley1774
PalladiumWilliam Hyde Wollaston1803
PhosphorusHennig Brand1669
PlatinumKnown to pre-Columbian Indians
Antonio de Ulloa
?
1735
PlutoniumGlenn T. Seaborg
Joseph W. Kennedy
Edward M. McMillan
Arthur C. Wohl
1941
PoloniumMarie Sklodowska Curie1898
PotassiumSir Humphry Davy1807
PraseodymiumCarl F. Auer von Welsbach1885
PromethiumJacob A. Marinsky
Lawrence E. Glendenin
Charles D. Coryell
1944
ProtactiniumKasimir Fajans
O.H. Göhring
1913
RadiumMarie Sklodowska Curie
Pierre Curie
1898
RadonFriedrich Ernst Dorn1900
RheniumIda Tacke-Noddack
Walter Noddack
Otto Carl Berg
1925
RhodiumWilliam Hyde Wollaston1803
RoentgeniumPeter Armbruster
Gottfried Münzenber
1994
RubidiumRobert Bunsen
Gustav Kirchhoff
1861
RutheniumKarl Karlovich Klaus1844
RutherfordiumScientists at Dubna, Russia
Albert Ghiorso et. al.
1964
1969
SamariumJean Charles Galissard de Marignac1853
ScandiumLars Fredrik Nilson1879
SeaborgiumAlbert Ghiorso et. al.1974
SeleniumJöns Jacob Berzelius1817
SiliconJöns Jacob Berzelius1824
SilverKnown since ancient times?
SodiumSir Humphry Davy1807
StrontiumAdair Crawford1790
SulfurKnown since ancient times?
TantalumAnders Gustaf Ekenberg1802
TechnetiumCarlo Perrier
Emilio Segrè
1937
TelluriumFranz Joseph Müller von Reichenstein1782
TennessineY. T. Oganessian et. al.2010
TerbiumCarl Gustaf Mosander1843
ThalliumSir William Crookes1861
ThoriumJöns Jacob Berzelius1828
ThuliumPer Theodor Cleve1879
TinKnown since ancient times?
TitaniumThe Reverend William Gregor1791
TungstenJuan José
Fausto Elhuyar
1783
UraniumMartin Heinrich Klaproth1789
VanadiumAndrés Manuel del Rio
Nils Gabriel Sefstrôm
1801
1830
XenonSir William Ramsay
Morris M. Travers
1898
YtterbiumJean Charles Galissard de Marignac1878
YttriumJohan Gadolin1789
ZincKnown since ancient times?
ZirconiumMartin Heinrich Klaproth1789

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