who discovered chromium

Chromium was discovered by the French chemist Nicolas Louis Vauquelin in 1797. He identified the element in a mineral sample called crocoite (lead chromate) from Siberia. Vauquelin succeeded in isolating chromium metal in 1798 by heating chromium oxide in a charcoal oven. The element was named "chromium" from the Greek word "chroma," meaning color, due to the many colorful compounds it forms.