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German chemist Andreas Marggraf
realizes that alum (a natural aluminum compound used for dying textiles since ancient times) contains an unknown metal. It's aluminum,but he doesn't know that. -
Danish chemist and electrical pioneer Hans Christi
turns aluminum oxide into aluminum chloride and then uses potassium to turn the chloride into pure aluminum. Unfortunately, he cannot repeat the trick a second time! -
French chemist Henri Sainte-Claire Deville
uses sodium to separate out aluminum. Since sodium is cheaper and easier to obtain than potassium. He puts this on display at a public exhibition in Paris, France. Deville's new method means aluminum starts to become more widely available and the price begins to fall. -
Charles Martin Hall nd his sister Julia Brainerd Hall and Frenchman Paul-Louis-Toussaint Héroult
discover the modern method of splitting aluminum oxide with electrolysis to make pure aluminum. Their highly efficient technique, known as the Hall-Héroult process, is still used to produce most of the world's aluminum today. -
Austrian chemist Karl Bayer
finds a less expensive way of turning bauxite into aluminum oxide—the raw material needed for the Hall-Héroult process. Together, the Bayer and Hall-Héroult processes drastically reduce the price of aluminum, enabling the metal to be used in much greater quantities. -
Aluminum
foil first produced. -
Modern aluminum alloys begin to appear
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American Chemical Society
officially changes the name from "aluminium" to "aluminum" in the United States. -
First aluminum power lines are introduced.