Timeline of chemical element discoveries Modern discoveries Modern discoveries

| Z | Element_ | Observed_or_predicted | Isolated_widely_known | Observer | First_isolator | Notes_ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78 | Platinum | 1735 | 1735 | A. de Ulloa | A. de Ulloa | First description of a metal found in South American gold was in 1557 by Julius Caesar Scaliger. Ulloa published his findings in 1748, but Sir Charles Wood also investigated the metal in 1741. First reference to it as a new metal was made by William Brownrigg in 1750. |
| 28 | Nickel | 1751 | 1751 | F. Cronstedt | F. Cronstedt | Found by attempting to extract copper from the mineral known as fake copper (now known as niccolite). |
| 83 | Bismuth | 1753 |  | C.F. Geoffroy |  | Definitively identified by Claude François Geoffroy in 1753. |
| 12 | Magnesium | 1755 | 1808 | J. Black | H. Davy | Black observed that magnesia alba (MgO) was not quicklime (CaO). Davy isolated the metal electrochemically from magnesia. |