Sulfur
Azufre (S, Z=16)
- Date
- c. 2000 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Mesopotamia and Egypt
- Credited to
- Unknown (antiquity)
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Known as the 'stone that burns' in Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Bible; Lavoisier recognised it as an element in 1777.
An element known since antiquity; the date is approximate.
What it led to
- Black gunpowder
- Sulfuric acid, the foundation of the chemical industry
- Vulcanisation of rubber
Built on
- Volcanoes and sulphurous springs
- Ritual fumigation