1770 Peter Simon Pallas found in the same place a red lead mineral,
because of its red color Crocoite (from the Greek krokos "saffron")
was called. The use of red lead ore as a color pigment increased
rapidly. A product derived from Crocoite bright yellow, chrome yellow,
became the fashionable color yellow as a post.
Louis-Nicolas Vauquelin in 1797 won chromium (III) oxide, Cr2O3 from
Crocoite and hydrochloric acid. In 1798 he received contaminated
elemental chromium by reduction of chromium (III) oxide with charcoal.
This newly isolated element was named chromium (Greek chroma,
"color"), because of the variegation of its salts in different
oxidation states. Could detect traces of the new element Vauquelin in
gemstones such as ruby and emerald.
In the 19th Century were mainly chromium compounds used as pigments
and chromium in the tannery. End of the 20th Century, chromium and
chromium compounds mainly used to produce corrosion-and heat-resistant
alloys (chrome plating, stainless steel).
