Deaths on May 21

Carl Wilhelm Scheele

Died on May 21, 1786

Carl Wilhelm Scheele, German-Swedish chemist and pharmacist (b. 1742)

Carl Wilhelm Scheele (German: [ˈʃeːlə], Swedish: [ˈɧêːlɛ]; 9 December 1742 – 21 May 1786) was a Swedish German pharmaceutical chemist.

Scheele discovered oxygen (although Joseph Priestley published his findings first), and identified molybdenum, tungsten, barium, hydrogen, and chlorine, among others. Scheele discovered organic acids tartaric, oxalic, uric, lactic, and citric, as well as hydrofluoric, hydrocyanic, and arsenic acids. He preferred speaking German to Swedish his whole life, as German was commonly spoken among Swedish pharmacists.

References

Carl Wilhelm Scheele

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Events on 1786

16 Jan

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
Virginia enacts the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
1 May

The Marriage of Figaro
In Vienna, Austria, Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro is performed for the first time.
25 Jun

St. George Island (Alaska)
Gavriil Pribylov discovers St. George Island of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.
8 Aug

Jacques Balmat
Mont Blanc on the French-Italian border is climbed for the first time by Jacques Balmat and Dr. Michel-Gabriel Paccard.
11 Aug

Penang
Captain Francis Light establishes the British colony of Penang in Malaysia.

Deaths on May 21

Carl Wilhelm Scheele

Died on May 21, 1786

References

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Events on 1786

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

The Marriage of Figaro

St. George Island (Alaska)

Jacques Balmat

Penang