Image: Halliburton. Downhole camera technology puts eyes underground, enhancing a company's understanding of what is going on within the furthest depths of production and helping operators make important decisions that benefit from the all too valuable sense of sight.
Barium was discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy at 1808 in England. Origin of name: from the Greek word barys meaning heavy Baryta (barium oxide, BaO) was distinguished from lime (calcium oxide, CaO) by Scheele in 1774.
History and Uses: The story of niobium's discovery is a bit confusing. The first governor of Connecticut, John Winthrop the Younger, discovered a new mineral around 1734. He named the mineral columbite ((Fe, Mn, Mg)(Nb, Ta)2O6) and sent a sample of it to the British Museum in London, England.