Adapted from an image by Weeks, Mary Elvira (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.
1799–1882
Ferdinand Reich
Discovered indium in 1863.
Element
49InIndium
1863
In 1863 Ferdinand Reich, in Freiberg, was looking for thallium in a zinc ore. Being colour-blind, he asked his assistant Hieronymus Theodor Richter to read the spectrum, and Richter saw a brilliant indigo line. They named the new element indium.
Keep exploring
Where the dates and stories on this page come from; each event on the timeline links to its own source.
- Ferdinand ReichDeutsche Biographie
- IndiumRoyal Society of Chemistry
- Ferdinand ReichWikipedia