Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand first isolates niobium metal…

Christian Wilhelm Blomstrand first isolates niobium metal in 1864, and unequivocally demonstrates the differences between tantalum and niobium.

Born in Växjö, Sweden, Blomstrand had studied chemistry at the University of Lund, where he had received his Ph.D in 1850 and his habilitation in 1854, and where, after an expedition to Spitsbergen and serving as a lecturer at the Elementary Technical School of Malmö, he became professor for chemistry in 1862.