"Pooh Bear" wrote in message
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Robert Morein wrote:

"Pooh Bear" wrote in message
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Robert Morein wrote:

"Pooh Bear" wrote in message
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Robert Morein wrote:

I have added to the "aluminum" thread.

You mean aluminium of course ?

Graham

"Aluminum" is actually the American spelling.
http://hyperdictionary.com/search.aspx?define=aluminum

I know. I'm pulling your leg.

Rumour has it that shortly after its practical refinement, a sample of
aluminium was sent to the USA but the packaging was improperly
stencilled
with a missing 'i'. Hence the difference.

Graham

The only problem with that theory is that Charles Martin Hall, who
invented
the electrolytic refining process, was American.
http://inventors.about.com/library/i...blaluminum.htm

I had the French in mind when I posted that story.

I note from the above...

" Wöhler's method was improved in 1854 by Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire
Deville,
a French chemist. Deville's process allowed for the commercial production
of
aluminum. As a result, the price of the metal dropped from around $1200
per
kilogram in 1852 to around $40 per kilogram in 1859 "

Graham

Good story, and I'm sorry I wasn't aware of it to appreciate the humor of
your anecdote, which sounds plausible.