Oxygen was first prepared in the early 1770s, and the credit is shared among several chemists. The Swedish apothecary Carl Wilhelm Scheele obtained it around 1771 by heating compounds such as mercuric oxide and saltpeter, calling it fire air, although he published his results only in 1777. The English clergyman and chemist Joseph Priestley isolated it independently in 1774 and made his findings known first. The French chemist Antoine Lavoisier then recognised it as a new element, gave it the name oxygen, and used it to explain combustion and respiration, which overthrew the older phlogiston theory. Oxygen makes up about a fifth of Earth's atmosphere and about half the mass of the crust, and it is essential to most living things.
Before and after
- 7 April 1770Birth of William Wordsworth
- 27 August 1770Birth of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
- 16 December 1770Birth of Ludwig van Beethoven
- 1771Construction of Vatican Museums
- 1771Discovery of oxygen
- 1771Arkwright opens Cromford Mill, the first modern factory
- 15 August 1771Birth of Walter Scott
- 1772Discovery of barium
- 1772Construction of place de la Concorde
More in Science & technology
- 1772Discovery of nitrogen
- 1777Discovery of sulfur
- 1789Discovery of carbon
- 1817Discovery of lithium
- 1825Discovery of aluminium
- 18 August 1868Discovery of helium
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.