Phosphorus Was Discovered by Trying to Get Gold From Urine

Imagine yourself as a traditional alchemist who has no real understanding of how the cosmos functions. However, you sure do adore gold. You need a fresh strategy because trying to turn lead into gold hasn't been successful thus far. What might include gold that resembles gold? You would have been right at home in the late 1600s if you had spoken urine.

Hennig Brand allegedly had 1,500 gallons of urine on hand and was trying to distill gold out of it. It must have produced just a remarkable odor in his home, where he was working, to evaporate it down to the "consistency of honey," in accordance with his own process. Despite boiling copious amounts of pee, he was unable to find any gold, but he did discover a waxy material that oddly shone in the dark. Brand had made phosphorous his own.