Who discovered the element phosphorus?

Hennig Brand (1630 – 1710) was a German alchemist who lived and worked in Hamburg. In 1669, Brand accidentally discovered the chemical element phosphorus while searching for the "philosopher's stone", a substance which was believed to transmute base metals into gold.

He evaporated human urine to leave a black residue that then lingered for a few months. He then heated said residue with sand at the highest temperature his furnace could reach. After many hours a white vapor formed and condensed into thick droplets that glowed brightly for hours. The shiny, waxy substance had never been seen before. Brandt named it a phosphor, a Latin term for things that emit light.

He did not reveal his method publicly, choosing instead to sell it to Johann Daniel Kraft and Kunckel von Lowenstern. For further payment he also revealed his secret to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Brand’s method became more widely known in 1737 when an unknown person sold it to the Academy of Sciences in Paris.

Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive. It's never found as a free element on Earth.

It's a vital plant nutrient and its main use – via phosphate compounds – is in the production of fertilizers. It's used in the manufacture of safety matches (red phosphorus), pyrotechnics and incendiary shells and to make light-emitting diodes (LEDs).