Use of nickel (as a natural meteoric nickelâiron alloy) has been traced as far back as 3500 BCE. Nickel was first isolated and classified as a chemical element in 1751 by Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who initially mistook the ore for a copper mineral.
One of the most powerful bankers of his era, J.P. (John Pierpont) Morgan (1837-1913) financed railroads and helped organize U.S. Steel, General Electric and other major corporations.
In 1926, Ernest Oppenheimer, a German immigrant to Britain who had earlier founded mining giant Anglo American plc with American financier J.P. Morgan, was elected to the board of De Beers.He built and consolidated the company's global monopoly over the diamond industry until his death in 1957.e Beers currently sells approximately 35% of the worldâs rough diamond production through its distribution subsidiary, DTC.