How did the element aluminium get its name?

Name Origin: From the Latin word alumen, meaning a substance having an astringent or bitter taste

• Named by Sir Humphry Davy who had trouble settling with a name. He based the name on the mineral called alumina which was named by chemist Joseph Black in 1790. Joseph Black derived the name alumina from alum, a white mineral that was named by the French.

• These days it is commonly known as aluminum everywhere outside of the U.S. and Canada.