DISCOVERY OF THE ELEMENT OXYGEN

Oxygen was discovered for the first time by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, in 1772. Joseph Priestly independently discovered oxygen in 1774 and published his findings the same year, three years before Scheele published. Antoine Lavoisier also discovered oxygen in 1775, was the first to recognize it as an element, and coined its name "oxygen". There is a historic dispute about who discovered oxygen. Most credit Priestly alone or Both Priestly and Scheele. Here is a brief summary of their lives related to oxygen.