Editing Aluminium (section)

== History ==
{{main|History of aluminium}}

[[File:Friedrich_W%C3%B6hler_Litho.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Friedrich Wöhler]], the chemist who first thoroughly described metallic elemental aluminium]]

The history of aluminium has been shaped by usage of [[alum]]. The first written record of alum, made by [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] historian [[Herodotus]], dates back to the 5th century BCE.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=12}} The ancients are known to have used alum as a dyeing [[mordant]] and for city defense.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|pp=12-14}} After the [[Crusades]], alum, an indispensable good in the European fabric industry,<ref name="ClaphamPower1941">{{cite book|last1=Clapham|first1=John Harold|last2=Power|first2=Eileen Edna|title=The Cambridge Economic History of Europe: From the Decline of the Roman Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gBw9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA682|year=1941|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=978-0-521-08710-0|page=207}}</ref> was a subject of international commerce;{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=16}} it was imported to Europe from the eastern Mediterranean until the mid-15th century.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The papacy and the Levant: 1204-1571. 1 The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries|last=Setton|first=Kenneth M.|date=1976|publisher=American Philosophical Society|isbn=978-0-87169-127-9|oclc=165383496}}</ref>

The nature of alum remained unknown. Around 1530, Swiss physician [[Paracelsus]] suggested alum was a salt of an earth of alum.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=25}} In 1595, German doctor and chemist [[Andreas Libavius]] experimentally confirmed this.<ref name="Weeks1968">{{cite book|last=Weeks|first=Mary Elvira|title=Discovery of the elements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s6kPAQAAMAAJ|year=1968|volume=1|edition=7|publisher=Journal of chemical education|page=187|isbn=9780608300177}}</ref> In 1722, German chemist [[Friedrich Hoffmann]] announced his belief that the base of alum was a distinct earth.{{sfn|Richards|1896|p=2}} In 1754, German chemist [[Andreas Sigismund Marggraf]] synthesized alumina by boiling clay in sulfuric acid and subsequently adding [[potash]].{{sfn|Richards|1896|p=2}}

Attempts to produce aluminium date back to 1760.{{sfn|Richards|1896|p=3}} The first successful attempt, however, was completed in 1824 by Danish physicist and chemist [[Hans Christian Ørsted]]. He reacted anhydrous [[aluminium chloride]] with potassium [[amalgam (chemistry)|amalgam]], yielding a lump of metal looking similar to tin.<ref>{{cite conference|last1=Örsted|first1=H. C.|date=1825|title=Oversigt over det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Forhanlingar og dets Medlemmerz Arbeider, fra 31 Mai 1824 til 31 Mai 1825|trans-title=Overview of the Royal Danish Science Society's Proceedings and the Work of its Members, from 31 May 1824 to 31 May 1825|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435054254693&view=1up&seq=17|language=da|pages=15–16|conference=|access-date=27 February 2020|archive-date=16 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200316113549/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435054254693&view=1up&seq=17|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="(København)1827">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L2BFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR25|title=Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs philosophiske og historiske afhandlinger|author=Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters|author-link=Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters|publisher=Popp|year=1827|pages=xxv–xxvi|language=da|trans-title=The philosophical and historical dissertations of the Royal Danish Science Society|access-date=11 March 2016|archive-date=24 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324064522/https://books.google.com/books?id=L2BFAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR25|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="woehler">{{cite journal|last=Wöhler|first=Friedrich|date=1827|title=Ueber das Aluminium|url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4433551;view=1up;seq=162|journal=[[Annalen der Physik und Chemie]]|series=2|volume=11|issue=9|pages=146–161|bibcode=1828AnP....87..146W|doi=10.1002/andp.18270870912|s2cid=122170259 |access-date=11 March 2016|archive-date=11 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611060735/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4433551&view=1up&seq=162|url-status=live}}</ref> He presented his results and demonstrated a sample of the new metal in 1825.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=36}}<ref name="FontaniCosta2014">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ck9jBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|title=The Lost Elements: The Periodic Table's Shadow Side|last1=Fontani|first1=Marco|last2=Costa|first2=Mariagrazia|last3=Orna|first3=Mary Virginia|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-0-19-938334-4|page=30}}</ref> In 1827, German chemist [[Friedrich Wöhler]] repeated Ørsted's experiments but did not identify any aluminium.<ref name="Venetski">{{cite journal|last1=Venetski|first1=S.|date=1969|title='Silver' from clay|journal=Metallurgist|volume=13|issue=7|pages=451–453|doi=10.1007/BF00741130|s2cid=137541986}}</ref> (The reason for this inconsistency was only discovered in 1921.){{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=38}} He conducted a similar experiment in the same year by mixing anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium (the [[Wöhler process]]) and produced a powder of aluminium.<ref name="woehler" /> In 1845, he was able to produce small pieces of the metal and described some physical properties of this metal.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=38}} For many years thereafter, Wöhler was credited as the discoverer of aluminium.<ref name="Holmes1936">{{Cite journal|last=Holmes|first=Harry N.|date=1936|title=Fifty Years of Industrial Aluminum|journal=The Scientific Monthly|volume=42|issue=3|pages=236–239|jstor=15938|bibcode=1936SciMo..42..236H}}</ref>

[[File:Eros-piccadilly-circus.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|right|The statue of [[Anteros]] in [[Piccadilly Circus]], London, was made in 1893 and is one of the first statues cast in aluminium.]]

As Wöhler's method could not yield great quantities of aluminium, the metal remained rare; its cost exceeded that of gold.<ref name="Venetski" /> The first industrial production of aluminium was established in 1856 by French chemist [[Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville]] and companions.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=39}} Deville had discovered that aluminium trichloride could be reduced by sodium, which was more convenient and less expensive than potassium, which Wöhler had used.<ref>{{cite book
|last=Sainte-Claire Deville|first=H.E.|date=1859|title=De l'aluminium, ses propriétés, sa fabrication
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCoKAAAAIAAJ
|publisher=Mallet-Bachelier|location=Paris|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430001812/https://books.google.com/books?id=rCoKAAAAIAAJ|archive-date=30 April 2016}}</ref> Even then, aluminium was still not of great purity and produced aluminium differed in properties by sample.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=46}} Because of its electricity-conducting capacity, aluminium was used as the cap of the [[Washington Monument]], completed in 1885, the tallest building in the world at the time.  The non-corroding metal cap was intended to serve as a [[lightning rod]] peak.

The first industrial large-scale production method was independently developed in 1886 by French engineer [[Paul Héroult]] and American engineer [[Charles Martin Hall]]; it is now known as the [[Hall–Héroult process]].{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|pp=55–61}} The Hall–Héroult process converts alumina into metal. Austrian chemist [[Carl Josef Bayer|Carl Joseph Bayer]] discovered a way of purifying bauxite to yield alumina, now known as the [[Bayer process]], in 1889.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=74}} Modern production of aluminium is based on the Bayer and Hall–Héroult processes.<ref name="aluminiumleader">{{Cite web
|url=https://aluminiumleader.com/history/industry_history/|title=Aluminium history|website=All about aluminium|access-date=7 November 2017
|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107222100/https://aluminiumleader.com/history/industry_history/|url-status=live}}</ref>

As large-scale production caused aluminium prices to drop, the metal became widely used in jewelry, eyeglass frames, optical instruments, tableware, and [[Aluminium foil|foil]], and other everyday items in the 1890s and early 20th century. Aluminium's ability to form hard yet light alloys with other metals provided the metal with many uses at the time.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|pp=64–69}} During [[World War I]], major governments demanded large shipments of aluminium for light strong airframes;<ref>{{cite book |last=Ingulstad|first=Mats|year=2012
|chapter='We Want Aluminum, No Excuses': Business-Government Relations in the American Aluminum Industry, 1917–1957|pages=33–68
|title=From Warfare to Welfare: Business-Government Relations in the Aluminium Industry
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TFS6NAEACAAJ
|editor1-first=Mats|editor1-last=Ingulstad|editor2-first=Hans Otto|editor2-last=Frøland
|publisher=Tapir Academic Press|isbn=978-82-321-0049-1|access-date=7 May 2020
|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725055556/https://books.google.com/books?id=TFS6NAEACAAJ|url-status=live}}
</ref> during [[World War II]], demand by major governments for aviation was even higher.<ref name="Seldes2009">{{cite book
|last=Seldes|first=George|url=https://archive.org/stream/FactsAndFascism/FactsandFascism_djvu.txt|title=Facts and Fascism|publisher=In Fact, Inc.|year=1943|edition=5|page=261|author-link=George Seldes}}</ref><ref name="Thorsheim2015">{{cite book|last=Thorsheim|first=Peter|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUlLCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA66|title=Waste into Weapons|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1-107-09935-7|pages=66–69|access-date=7 January 2021|archive-date=6 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406160604/https://books.google.com/books?id=uUlLCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA66|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Weeks20042">{{cite book|last=Weeks|first=Albert Loren|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3hP33KprskC&pg=PA135|title=Russia's Life-saver: Lend-lease Aid to the U.S.S.R. in World War II|publisher=[[Lexington Books]]|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7391-0736-2|page=135|access-date=7 January 2021|archive-date=6 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406160618/https://books.google.com/books?id=z3hP33KprskC&pg=PA135|url-status=live}}</ref>

From the early 20th century to 1980, the aluminium industry was characterized by [[Cartel|cartelization]], as aluminium firms colluded to keep prices high and stable.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bertilorenzi |first=Marco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PASQCgAAQBAJ |title=The International Aluminium Cartel: The Business and Politics of a Cooperative Industrial Institution (1886-1978) |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-80483-3 |language=en}}</ref> The first aluminium cartel, the Aluminium Association, was founded in 1901 by the [[Pittsburgh Reduction Company]] (renamed Alcoa in 1907) and [[Alusuisse|Aluminium Industrie AG]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Fridenson |first=Patrick |date=2024 |title=Industrial Consumers Versus Cartelized Producers: The French Carmaker Louis Renault and the Aluminium Cartel, 1911–1944 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/business-history-review/article/industrial-consumers-versus-cartelized-producers-the-french-carmaker-louis-renault-and-the-aluminium-cartel-19111944/D68235FD7E04D7F7C7E4DC52C27B83E1 |journal=Business History Review |language=en |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=637–655 |doi=10.1017/S0007680524000692 |issn=0007-6805}}</ref> The [[British Aluminium|British Aluminium Company]], Produits Chimiques d’Alais et de la Camargue, and Société Electro-Métallurgique de Froges also joined the cartel.<ref name=":0" />

By the mid-20th century, aluminium had become a part of everyday life and an essential component of housewares.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|pp=69–70}} In 1954, production of aluminium surpassed that of [[copper]],{{efn|Compare annual statistics of aluminium<ref name="USGS" /> and copper<ref name="USGS Copper">{{Cite report|chapter-url=https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/historical-statistics/|title=Historical Statistics for Mineral Commodities in the United States|chapter=Copper. Supply-Demand Statistics|year=2017|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|language=en|access-date=4 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308171100/https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/historical-statistics/|archive-date=8 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> production by USGS.}} historically second in production only to iron,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gregersen|first=Erik|title=Copper|url=https://www.britannica.com/science/copper|website=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]|language=en|access-date=4 June 2019|archive-date=22 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622234613/https://www.britannica.com/science/copper|url-status=live}}</ref> making it the most produced [[non-ferrous metal]]. During the mid-20th century, aluminium emerged as a civil engineering material, with building applications in both basic construction and interior finish work,{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|pp=165–166}} and increasingly being used in military engineering, for both airplanes and land armor vehicle engines.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=85}} [[Sputnik 1|Earth's first artificial satellite]], launched in 1957, consisted of two separate aluminium semi-spheres joined and all subsequent space vehicles have used aluminium to some extent.<ref name="aluminiumleader" /> The [[aluminium can]] was invented in 1956 and employed as a storage for drinks in 1958.{{sfn|Drozdov|2007|p=135}}

[[File:Aluminium - world production trend.svg|thumb|upright=1.0|lang=en|World production of aluminium since 1900]]

Throughout the 20th century, the production of aluminium rose rapidly: while the world production of aluminium in 1900 was 6,800 metric tons, the annual production first exceeded 100,000 metric tons in 1916; 1,000,000 tons in 1941; 10,000,000 tons in 1971.<ref name="USGS">{{Cite report|chapter-url=https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/historical-statistics/|title=Historical Statistics for Mineral Commodities in the United States|chapter=Aluminum|year=2017|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|language=en|access-date=9 November 2017|archive-date=8 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308171100/https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/historical-statistics/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1970s, the increased demand for aluminium made it an exchange commodity; it entered the [[London Metal Exchange]], the oldest industrial metal exchange in the world, in 1978.<ref name="aluminiumleader" /> The output continued to grow: the annual production of aluminium exceeded 50,000,000 metric tons in 2013.<ref name="USGS" />

The [[real price]] for aluminium declined from $14,000 per metric ton in 1900 to $2,340 in 1948 (in 1998 United States dollars).<ref name="USGS" /> Extraction and processing costs were lowered over technological progress and the scale of the economies. However, the need to exploit lower-grade poorer quality deposits and the use of fast increasing input costs (above all, energy) increased the net cost of aluminium;{{sfn|Nappi|2013|p=9}} the real price began to grow in the 1970s with the rise of energy cost.{{sfn|Nappi|2013|pp=9–10}} Production moved from the industrialized countries to countries where production was cheaper.{{sfn|Nappi|2013|p=10}} Production costs in the late 20th century changed because of advances in technology, lower energy prices, exchange rates of the United States dollar, and alumina prices.{{sfn|Nappi|2013|pp=14–15}} The [[BRIC (economics term)|BRIC]] countries' combined share in primary production and primary consumption grew substantially in the first decade of the 21st century.{{sfn|Nappi|2013|p=17}} China is accumulating an especially large share of the world's production thanks to an abundance of resources, cheap energy, and governmental stimuli;{{sfn|Nappi|2013|p=20}} it also increased its consumption share from 2% in 1972 to 40% in 2010.{{sfn|Nappi|2013|p=22}} In the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, most aluminium was consumed in transportation, engineering, construction, and packaging.{{sfn|Nappi|2013|p=23}} In 2021, prices for industrial metals such as aluminium have soared to near-record levels as [[2021–2022 global energy crisis|energy shortages]] in China drive up costs for electricity.<ref>{{cite news |title=Aluminum prices hit 13-year high amid power shortage in China |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Commodities/Aluminum-prices-hit-13-year-high-amid-power-shortage-in-China |work=Nikkei Asia |date=22 September 2021}}</ref>