Promethium: historical information

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Promethium was discovered by J. A. Marinsky, Lawrence Glendenin, Charles D. Coryell at 1945 in United States. Origin of name: named after "Prometheus" in Greek mythology, who stole fire from the gods. Further information on origin of name and discovery dates

Earlt claims to the discovery of promethium date back to 1924 but these appear have been substantiated. A group at Ohio State University (USA) claimed element 61 in experiments involving its synthesis in a cyclotron, but again the evidence did not satisfy everyone. In 1947, Marinsky, Glendenin, and Coryell at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA, made the first chemical identification of promethium by use of ion-exchange chromatography on residues in a nuclear reactor.

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promethium atomic number