Adapted from an image (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.
1863–1914
Charles Martin Hall
American chemist who, at 22, found a cheap way to make a metal that had cost as much as silver.
Element
13AlAluminium
1886
In a woodshed in Oberlin, Ohio, Charles Martin Hall made aluminium by passing a current through alumina dissolved in molten cryolite. Paul Héroult found the same process in France that year, and the metal stopped being as costly as silver.
Keep exploring
Where the dates and stories on this page come from; each event on the timeline links to its own source.
- Charles Martin HallEncyclopaedia Britannica
- Hall process (National Historic Chemical Landmark)American Chemical Society
- Charles Martin HallWikipedia