History
Since the Middle Ages, lead(II) nitrate has been produced as a raw material for the production of coloured pigments in lead paints, such as chrome yellow (lead(II) chromate), chrome orange (lead(II) hydroxide chromate) and similar lead compounds. These pigments were used for dyeing and printing calico and other textiles.
In 1597, the German alchemist Andreas Libavius first described the compound, coining the medieval names of plumb dulcis and calx plumb dulcis, meaning "sweet lead", because of its taste. Although originally not understood during the following centuries, the decrepitation property of lead(II) nitrate led to its use in matches and special explosives such as lead azide.
The production process was and still is chemically straightforward, effectively dissolving lead in aqua fortis (nitric acid), and subsequently harvesting the precipitate. However, the production remained small-scale for many centuries, and the commercial production of lead(II) nitrate as raw material for the manufacture of other lead compounds was not reported until 1835. In 1974, the U.S. consumption of lead compounds, excluding pigments and gasoline additives, was 642 tons.
Read more about this topic: Lead(II) Nitrate
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The awareness that health is dependent upon habits that we control makes us the first generation in history that to a large extent determines its own destiny.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“What you don’t understand is that it is possible to be an atheist, it is possible not to know if God exists or why He should, and yet to believe that man does not live in a state of nature but in history, and that history as we know it now began with Christ, it was founded by Him on the Gospels.”
—Boris Pasternak (1890–1960)
“Systematic philosophical and practical anti-intellectualism such as we are witnessing appears to be something truly novel in the history of human culture.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)