Adapted from an image by Lithography by unknown artist (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.
1767–1813
Anders Gustaf Ekeberg
Discovered tantalum in 1802.
Element
73TaTantalum
1802
In 1802 Anders Gustaf Ekeberg, in Uppsala, found a new metal in Swedish and Finnish minerals. He named it tantalum, after Tantalus, because it would not dissolve in acid however long it soaked.
Keep exploring
Where the dates and stories on this page come from; each event on the timeline links to its own source.
- Anders Gustaf EkebergEncyclopaedia Britannica
- TantalumRoyal Society of Chemistry
- Anders Gustaf EkebergWikipedia