Historical Context
English chemist Joseph Priestley made his most famous discovery, during an experiment at Boxwood House in England in 1774. Using a 12-inch-wide glass "burning lens" he aimed it at a lump of mercuric oxide placed in an upside down glass container in a pool of mercury. The gas his experiment emitted he announced five or six times as good as common air."
Priestley called this air "dephlogisticated air" and his findings enabled French chemist Antoine Lavoisier to discover its role in combustion and name it oxygen in 1778.
Drawing Info
Location drawn: England, United Kingdom
Related Events
- 1774-08-01 English chemist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen by isolating it in its gaseous state
Related Famous People
Chemist, Theologian and Author
Joseph Priestley
