Rubidium was discovered in 1861 by the German scientists Robert Bunsen and Gustav Kirchhoff at the University of Heidelberg. A year after they had discovered caesium with their new spectroscope, they examined the mineral lepidolite and noticed two deep red lines that they could not match with any known element. The name comes from the Latin rubidus, meaning deep red. Bunsen then isolated the metal by chemical means from large quantities of the mineral. Rubidium is a soft, silvery metal that ignites in air and reacts violently with water. It is rare and has few large-scale uses, but its atomic properties make it valuable in precision atomic clocks, in research on ultracold atoms and in specialised glasses.
Before and after
- 2 October 1860Construction of Mariinsky Theatre
- 1861Founding of Crystal Palace F.C.
- 1861Rise of Narodniks
- 1861Maxwell's equations
- 1861Discovery of rubidium
- 1861Discovery of thallium
- 1861The first Archaeopteryx skeleton is found
- 1861Pasteur disproves spontaneous generation
- from 8 February 1861 to 1 May 1865Confederate States of America
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This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.