Adapted from an image (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.
1743–1817
Martin Heinrich Klaproth
Discovered zirconium and uranium in 1789.
Elements
40ZrZirconium
1789
In 1789 Martin Heinrich Klaproth, in Berlin, analysed the gemstone zircon and found the oxide of a new element, zirconium. Jöns Jacob Berzelius made the metal itself in 1824.
92UUranium
1789
In 1789 Martin Heinrich Klaproth, in Berlin, found the oxide of a new element in pitchblende. He named it uranium, after the planet Uranus, discovered eight years before. The metal itself was first made in 1841.
Keep exploring
Where the dates and stories on this page come from; each event on the timeline links to its own source.
- Martin Heinrich KlaprothEncyclopaedia Britannica
- ZirconiumRoyal Society of Chemistry
- UraniumRoyal Society of Chemistry
- Martin Heinrich KlaprothWikipedia