Which came first: aluminum or aluminium?

Search: aluminum; aluminum etymology

Why: Marcel wrote:

Oh yeah and what's with you North Americans saying Aluminum? It's Aluminium.

Answer: Aluminum was first! The earliest citation given in the Oxford English Dictionary for any word used as a name for this element is alumium, which British chemist and inventor Humphry Davy employed in 1808 for the metal he was trying to isolate electrolytically from the mineral alumina. By 1812, Davy had settled on aluminum. He wrote in the journal Chemical Philosophy: "As yet Aluminum has not been obtained in a perfectly free state."

1812, coined by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829), from L. alumen "alum" (see alum). Davy originally called it alumium (1808), then amended this to aluminum, which remains the U.S. word, but British editors in 1812 further amended it to aluminium, the modern preferred British form, to better harmonize with other element names (sodium, potassium, etc.):

"Aluminium, for so we shall take the liberty of writing the word, in preference to aluminum, which has a less classical sound." ["Quarterly Review," 1812]

Davy also, by the way, first isolated sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, and he STILL didn't want to call it aluminium.

Source: Wikipedia, EtymOnline

The More You Know: Eat it, Marcel! Then wrap the rest in some aluminium foil and take it to work tomorrow for lunch!