Chromium was discovered during the year of 1797 in a red lead ore from Siberia by
Louis Nicolas Vauquelin. Louis Nicolas Vauquelin was born in Normandy, France on the 16th of
May in 1763 and died on the 14th of November in the year of 1829 while on a visit to his birthplace. He worked in an apothecary in Rouen for two years (1777­1779) as a young boy when he became interested in chemistry. After certain events, he became an assistant in Antoine
François’ laboratory for eight years (1783­1791). After that, Vauquelin moved to Paris and became a laboratory assistant at the Jardin du Roi. In 1791 he became a member of the Academy of Sciences and helped edit the journal
Annales de Chimie
. Vauquelin also discovered beryllium in 1798 after extracting it from an emerald and reducing the amount of beryllium chloride. In the year of 1790 he started to publish work on his own, earning 376 scientific papers associated with him from then on to 1833. Among of all his analyzed substances, he only discovered two elements (beryllium and chromium). Vauquelin became an inspector of mines, a professor at the
School of Mines and the Polytechnic School, an assayer of gold and silver articles, a professor of chemistry in the College de France and the Jardin des Plantes, a member of the Council of
Industry and Commerce, a commissioner on the pharmacy laws, and finally a professor of chemistry to the Medical Faculty. His lectures were attended by many distinct chemists. In 1806,