Place of Discovery: Stockholm, Sweden

Date of Discovery: 1735

History of Discovery:     

Georg Brandt was a well known and a respected chemist in Europe. In the year 1730 he became interested in an ore in Vestmanland that was a dark blue color. He proved that this ore had an unknown metal, cobalt. He published the result for his experiment in 1739 and for many years other chemists disputed his claim that he had found a new metal. Cobalt comes from the Greek word for mine, cobalos and the German word meaning goblin, kobald. The name cobalt, was probably selected  because,  most cobalt mines were very difficult to mine. Also,  when the cobalt was refined, it gave off a gas, which could cause illness. This gas was later identified as arsenic trioxide, which is frequently found with cobalt minerals in the earth.

Cobalt is as old as the earth. Although not discovered or identified until 1735, cobalt has been used and enjoyed for many centuries. Some of the first traces were discovered in a small glass object found in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, who ruled from 1361 to 1352 BC. Also pieces of natural lapis lazuli, which owes its bright blue color to cobalt has been found in Nippur since 1400 BC. Cobalt blue was also used in China for pottery and glazes many years ago. The first extraterrestrial cobalt was found in a meteorite that hit the Cape of Good Hope in the year 1819.