Norman Lockyer Named Helium First

In 1868, astronomers spotted a strange yellow spectral line in sunlight and concluded it came from an element nobody had identified on Earth. British astronomer Norman Lockyer proposed it was a new element and named it helium, after the Greek word for the Sun, helios. Scientists later proved the Sun’s mystery gas really existed on Earth when William Ramsay and others isolated helium from uranium ore in 1895. That makes Helium the only element on the periodic table that was not discovered on Earth.

Previous Fact Next Fact