Mercury was already used in ancient Egypt and China as a pigment and in medicine — despite the fact that its toxicity was already known.
The Romans used mercury for gold extraction and began mining it in Almadén, Spain, as early as 400 BC. After the Romans, the Spanish exploited the Almadén mercury mine to extract gold in their South American colonies.
Around the year 1000, the palaces of the caliphs of Córdoba (Medina Azahara) in Spain featured fountains filled with mercury.
During the Middle Ages, alchemists believed that mercury was one of the key substances in the creation of gold. Medieval physicians experimented with mercury compounds to treat diseases such as syphilis — often with fatal consequences.
In 1643, the Italian physicist and mathematician Evangelista Torricelli developed the mercury barometer. Half a century later, in 1714, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit built the mercury thermometer.
In the 19th century, mercury was widely used in North America for gold and silver extraction, leading to severe environmental contamination.
In the 20th century, mercury was used in the production of chlorine and sodium hydroxide.
