Discovery of hydrogen

In 1766 the English-born chemist Henry Cavendish published an account of a gas he obtained by pouring acids on metals such as zinc, iron and tin. He called it inflammable air and showed that it was a distinct substance, far lighter than ordinary air and burning with a pale flame. Earlier experimenters, among them Robert Boyle in the seventeenth century, had produced the gas without recognising what it was. In 1783 the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier named it hydrogen, meaning water-former, after it was shown that burning it produces water. Hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant element in the universe, making up most of the mass of stars. It was used to lift early balloons and airships and is now being developed as a clean fuel.

Open on the timeline