History

=**History** =

__**Discovery/Origin of Potasium**__

 * Early humans knew about potash, a potassium compound
 * The name potassium comes from the word "potash"
 * They also knew of soda ash, which is very similar to potassium
 * Scientists, by the eighteenth century, were pretty sure there was an element they hadn't seen in potash and soda ash
 * Potassium was first discovered in its pure form in 1807 by Sir Humphrey Davy
 * Davy discovered pure potassium using a new isolating technique he invented called electrolysis