Iodine
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The chemical element known as iodine was accidentally discovered by a French chemist Bernard Courtois in 1811. Courtois was working on the extraction of saltpeter from seaweed in order for it to be used in the manufacturing of gunpowder. France was in the midst of a war at that time and Courtois' father was one of the leading manufacturers of gunpowder, of which saltpeter is a major component. After isolating the saltpeter needed, Courtois had as usual sulfuric acid to get rid of the access waste materials. On this occasion, he accidentally added too much sulfuric acid and a cloud of purple v vapor arose which then crystallized and left behind a residue of dark purple crystals.
Courtois suspected that he had discovered a new element but didn't have the money to carry out the scientific experimentation that would be needed to prove such a discovery so he gave samples of the substance to two of his friends, fellow chemists Charles Bernard Desormes and Nicolas Clément who agreed to carry out the research for him. He also gave samples to Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac , a well known scientist and to André-Marie Ampère .
Aproximately two years later, on November 29, 1913 , after having done extensive research on the product, Dersormes and Clément announced the finding of Courtois discovery to the Imperial Institute of France, giving Courtois full credit for being the first to actually isolate the substance.
On December 6 of that year, Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac announced that the substance was either an element or a compound of oxygen. André-Marie Ampère had given some of his portion of the substance to fellow scientist Humphry Davy who did some experiments on it and noted that it was similar to chlorine. On Dec. 10, 1913 , Davy notified the Royal Society of London that he had identified a new element, which caused a serious argumentative uprising between Davy and Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac as to whom had actually identified this new element. Both men did, however, give credit to Courtois as being the first person to actually isolate the new chemical element.
Iodine deficiency in the body has been proved to be the leading cause of preventable mental retardation. It also can be responsible for hypothyroidism, goiter and other developmental abnormalities. Iodine is also an essential part of any emergency survival kit. It can be used to disinfect wounds and also to sanitize surface water for drinking. It also could be used in one of its forms to help rid the body of radiation in case of a nuclear disaster.
Iodized salt and iodized vegetable oil are great sources of iodine and have made major differences in the lives of people who live in countries where there has been a known deficiency in iodine.
