Bernard Courtois
Bernard Courtois was born on February 12, 1777. See ranking, bio blurb, and everyone else born that day.
About Bernard Courtois
Bernard Courtois (French pronunciation: [bɛʁnaʁ kuʁtwa]), also spelled Barnard Courtois, (8 February 1777 – 27 September 1838) was a French chemist credited with first isolating iodine, making early photography possible. By 1811 the Napoleonic Wars had made the government-controlled saltpeter business taper off since there was by then a shortage of wood ashes with which potassium nitrate was made. As an alternative, the needed potassium nitrate was derived from seaweed that was abundant on the Normandy and Brittany shores. The seaweed also had another, yet undiscovered, important chemical.…