Nickel: historical information

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Nickel was discovered by Axel Fredrik Cronstedt at 1751 in Sweden. Origin of name: from the German word "kupfernickel" meaning Devil's copper or St Nicholas's (OLd Nick's) copper. Further information on origin of name and discovery dates

Minerals containing nickel were of value for colouring glass green. The mineral used for colouring glass was called kupfernickel (false copper). Nickel was discovered by Baron Axel Frederik Cronstedt in 1751 in a mineral called niccolite. Apparently, he had expected to extract copper from this mineral but got none at all, obtaining instead a white metal that he called nickel after the mineral from which it was extracted.

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nickel atomic number