c. 5th century BCE Alum is used in the ancient Mediterranean Long before metallic aluminum was isolated, alum compounds were valued in dyeing, medicine, and finishing. 1754 Marggraf isolates alumina from alum Work on aluminum compounds moved the material closer to recognition as a distinct chemical substance. 1808 Davy proposes the name aluminum Humphry Davy identified the likely metallic basis of alumina and proposed the element's name. 1825 Oersted isolates crude aluminum Hans Christian Oersted produced impure metallic aluminum for the first time. 1827 Wohler improves aluminum isolation Friedrich Wohler refined laboratory methods and established important early properties of the metal. 1854 Deville makes aluminum more practical to produce Henri Sainte-Claire Deville reduced costs enough to turn aluminum into a luxury industrial curiosity. 1855 Aluminum debuts at the Paris Exposition The rare metal was displayed as a prestige material and symbol of scientific modernity. c. 1850 Aluminum becomes more precious than silver Its scarcity made aluminum an elite material used for prestige objects rather than mass manufacture. c. 1860 Napoleon III popularizes aluminum tableware legend The emperor's court became associated with the metal's high status in mid-nineteenth-century France. 1886 Hall and Heroult independently invent electrolytic smelting Their process made large-scale cheap aluminum production possible. 1888 Bayer discovers an improved alumina refining process The Bayer process supplied the purified alumina needed for economical aluminum smelting. 1888 Pittsburgh Reduction Company is founded The firm that became Alcoa helped build the modern aluminum industry in the United States. 1895 Niagara hydropower lowers aluminum costs Cheap electricity and aluminum smelting became tightly linked in the industrial age. 1903 Wright Flyer uses an aluminum engine block Light aluminum alloys became critical to powered flight. 1915 Duralumin expands aircraft applications Stronger aluminum alloys made the metal essential to twentieth-century aviation. c. 1930 Aluminum enters mass consumer products Kitchenware, appliances, and industrial design turned aluminum into a familiar household metal. 1942 Wartime aircraft production surges aluminum demand World War II made aluminum a strategic war material on an enormous scale. 1954 The first all-aluminum beverage can is patented Packaging innovation helped make aluminum a disposable everyday material. 1958 Commercial aluminum foil and cans expand rapidly Aluminum became central to modern food packaging and consumer convenience. 1972 Recycling campaigns make aluminum a model recyclable metal The value of scrap aluminum turned cans into one of the most visible recycling streams. c. 2000 Lightweight aluminum helps reshape transportation Automakers and aircraft manufacturers increasingly relied on aluminum to reduce weight and fuel use.