Uranium was first discovered in 1789 by the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth.

Quick Scoop

  • The element uranium was identified in 1789 while Klaproth was analyzing the mineral pitchblende from Joachimsthal in Bohemia.
  • Klaproth named it “uranium” after the planet Uranus, which had been discovered only a few years earlier.
  • Later, in 1841, Eugène-Melchior Péligot managed to isolate metallic uranium for the first time, turning it from a curiosity into a well-defined chemical element.

So, when someone asks “when was uranium discovered,” the standard historical answer is: 1789.

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