The name is derived from the Latin term for brownstone, “magnesia nigra,” and thus shares with the element magnesium the geographical reference to the district of Magnesia in the eastern Greek region of Thessaly, where deposits of minerals of both elements have been known since ancient times.
Manganese dioxide, also known as brownstone, was used as a pigment in prehistoric cave paintings because of its color. Since ancient times, this mineral has also been used as an additive in glass production, as it helps to remove the green tint from natural glass caused by traces of iron ions.
It was not until 1740 that the Berlin physician and chemist Johann Heinrich Pott was able to show that pyrolusite does not contain iron, as originally assumed, but another, as yet unknown element.
It was not until a quarter of a century later that the Swedish chemist Johan Gottlieb Gahn succeeded in producing elemental manganese by reducing pyrolusite with carbon.
In 1839, it was discovered that manganese improves the malleability of iron. In 1856, Robert Forester Mushet showed that the addition of manganese enabled the mass production of steel using the Bessemer process. This led to manganese being used in large quantities for steel production within a short period of time.
From the mid-18th century onwards, manganese oxide was also used in the production of chlorine.
