Uranium

a metallic element having a specific gravity of 18.6. It was identified in 1789. The name was given in honor of the newly discovered planet Uranus. Uranium is found chiefly in the greenish material known as pitchblende. This ore is found chiefly in Bohemia, but also in Cornwall, Saxony, Hungary, Turkey, Connecticut, and North Carolina. This is the mineral, it may be remembered, from which radium is obtained. Uranium occurs in connection with copper in Saxony and Cornwall. Pure uranium was obtained in 1841. It was not obtained in compact form until 1856. It is a malleable white metal resembling nickel. A compound with sodium, known as uranium yellow, is used in the manufacture of Bohemian glassware. It is used also in painting glass and china.