Aluminum's Strange Journey From Precious Metal To Beer Can

"Aluminum is used everywhere from soda to space capsules, but that hasn't always been the case."

"Short Wave is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the periodic table with profiles of some of its favorite elements. Here are a few things you may not have known about aluminum."

"Aluminum is the most abundant element on Earth, and one of the cheapest to buy. But it used to be more valuable than gold."

"Aluminum is the third most common element in the Earth's crust, but it also bonds easily with other elements. That means it is not found in nature as a pure metal."

"For decades after it was first identified by British chemist Sir Humphry Davy in the early 1800s, scientists and tinkerers tried, and mostly failed, to find a good method for separating aluminum from everything else that stuck to it."

"France's Emperor Napoleon III was an early proponent of aluminum. He hoped the lightweight metal could be used to produce weapons and armor, giving his soldiers an edge in battle. The emperor funded the work of Henri Sainte-Claire Deville, who found a chemical method for obtaining pure aluminum, but it was still a slow process. An often repeated story goes that Napoleon III, frustrated with progress on aluminum, had much of France's stock melted down and turned into cutlery. He and his honored guests used aluminum utensils, while everyone else at the imperial dinner table made do with gold."