Andrew, You are probably correct - the information below is ex Encarta - note the reference to Napoleon III
Mike [EMAIL PROTECTED] 53.37N 3.02W Chester, UK ===================== Hans Christian Oersted, a Danish chemist, first isolated aluminium in 1825, using a chemical process involving potassium amalgam. Between 1827 and 1845, Friedrich Wöhler, a German chemist, improved Oersted's process by using metallic potassium. He was the first to measure the relative density of aluminium and show its lightness. In 1854 Henri Sainte-Claire Deville, in France, obtained the metal by reducing aluminium chloride with sodium. Aided by the financial backing of Napoleon III, Deville established a large-scale experimental plant and displayed pure aluminium at the Paris Exposition of 1855. In 1886 the world production of aluminium was less than 45 kg (less than 100 lb), and its price was more than $11 per kg (more than $5 per lb). In 1989, by contrast, the estimated world production of primary aluminium was 18 million metric tons and the price of aluminium was less than $2 per kg. "Aluminium," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R)
