Curium

Curium was identified by Seaborg, James and Ghiorso at the wartime Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago in 1944. The metal was the result of a helium ion bombardment of the plutonium isotope ²³⁹Pu. Visible amounts of the ²⁴²Cm hydroxide were isolated by Werner and Perlman in 1947. Crane, Wallmann and Cunningham prepared curium in its elemental form for the first time in 1951 [2].

Named after Pierre and Marie Curie [2].