-
500
500 AD
Potash especially potassium carbonate was used in bleaching textiles, making glass & soap. -
1300
Early 14 Century
Potash was mined in Ethiopia. -
1702
It was suspected that potassium and sodium were different elements that combine with the same anions & made similar salts but it wasn’t proven. -
1736
Henri Louis Duhamel du Monceau proved the difference between potassium & sodium. -
1786
Claude-Louis Berth discovered that when chlorine and potash mix a liquid bleach is created. -
1790
Samuel Hopkins received a patent for an improvement “in the making of potash by a new apparatus and process.” -
1792
J.B. Ritcher noticed that the combination of the acetate from lime and potash’s tartrate, form potassium acetate. -
1797
Martin Klaproth discovered potash in the minerals leucite and lepidolite & discovered it wasn’t a product of plant growth but contained a new element & thought we should call them kali. -
1806
Sir Humphry Davy discovered chemical combing was electrical in nature and he could use electricity to split substances into their basic chemical element. -
1807
Sir Humphry Davy isolated potassium metal for the first time through electrolysis of potash at the Royal Institute. -
1809
Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert said potassium should be called Kalium. -
1814
Berzelius recommended using the symbol “K” to represent potassium. -
1940
New potash sources found in Canada. -
1943
Potash was found in Saskatchewan, Canada. -
1958
The Potash Company of America was the first potash producer in Canada.