Helium

The element was discovered by the French astronomer Pierre-Jules-Cesar Janssen in 1868, in the sun's chromosphere, by using spectroscopy during a solar eclipse [11]. The element was independently discovered and given the name helium by the English astronomer Joseph Norman Lockyer [11].

The British chemist William Ramsey was the first to isolate helium by treating the mineral cleveite (UO₂ with >10 % (w/w) impurities of Th and rare earth metals) with mineral acids [8]. At around the same time, the two Swedish chemists Per Theodore Cleve and Nils Abraham Langet independently also found helium in cleveite [11].

From the Greek name for the Sun Helios [8, 11].