For many years, element 72 was a missing spot in the periodic table. Several chemists searched for the element in zirconium minerals since many of these minerals had unknown impurities. Since the mid-1800s, many believed they had found element 72 in these minerals and an assortment of names were proposed. Swedish chemist Lars Svanberg reported his find as norium. Henry Clifton Sorby observed a new spectral line in zirconium and named his discovery jargonium, but retracted his claim the following year due to experimental error. Tellef Dahl believed he had discovered Norwegium. Other claims of ostranium, nigrium, euxenium were announced. French chemist Georges Urbain announced he had isolated element 72 from a rare-earth sample and named it celtium. Russian chemist Nenadkevich thought he had isolated thorium in the mineral orthite, but it had a much lower atomic weight, one that would correspond to element 72. He named his discovery asium, but could not publish his find due to World War I and the Russian Civil War.
Coster and Hevesy would find their element 72 in a zircon mineral by x-ray spectroscopy. They had been working in Neils Bohr's laboratory when Bohr won his Nobel Prize. Coster notified Bohr of the discovery and wanted to name it hafnium, after the Latin name of Copenhagen. Bohr wanted to name it danium, but he accepted Coster's name. Bohr amended his Nobel lecture to include the announcement of the discovery.
Hafnium has a very busy history. Find out what else occurred on this day in science history.
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