Italian physicist Luigi Palmieri recorded the yellow spectral line associated with helium in 1882 while analyzing lava from Mount Vesuvius, marking its first detection on Earth.
Sources
- How Scientists Discovered Helium, the First Alien Element, 150 Years Ago (smithsonianmag.com)
- https://physicstoday.aip.org/news/helium-discovered (physicstoday.aip.org)
- https://nigms.nih.gov/biobeat/2020/05/helium-an-abundant-history-and-a-shortage-threatening-scientific-tools (nigms.nih.gov)
- https://www.innovationnewsnetwork.com/the-history-of-helium-properties-reserves-production-and-uses/48282/ (innovationnewsnetwork.com)
- https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/general-science/soaring-helium (mcgill.ca)
- https://www.space.com/astronomy/on-this-day-in-space-aug-18-1868-total-solar-eclipse-leads-to-discovery-of-helium (space.com)
- https://www.academia.edu/96556733/Palmieris_discovery_of_terrestrial_Helium_was_it_a_mistake_or_not (academia.edu)
- https://www.paviauniversitypress.it/HandlerObjectFile.ashx?id=40861353-2962-4c08-8ff6-817cf8eb24b3 (paviauniversitypress.it)
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