How Did Humans Discover Lithium?

Lithium is sitting in your phone right now — and for most of human history, we sold it in soda, nearly killed people with it, then accidentally discovered it treats bipolar disorder. This is the strange, true story of the lightest metal on Earth, from an overlooked rock in 1817 Stockholm to a cosmic mystery that still stumps physicists. In this video: how Johan August Arfwedson discovered lithium by accident, why 7 Up used to contain it, the FDA ban that followed a wave of poisonings, John Cade's 1949 psychiatric breakthrough, the Big Bang origin of lithium, the unsolved "cosmological lithium problem," and how this one element ended up powering your phone, your car, and the global economy. 🔔 Subscribe for more deep dives into the hidden history of everyday things. Chapters: 0:00 The phone in your pocket 0:45 Why lithium matters 1:15 1817, Stockholm — the discovery 3:00 Lithia water and the 7 Up era 4:30 The FDA ban and John Cade's discovery 6:30 The Big Bang and the lithium mystery 8:30 Lithium batteries and the Lithium Triangle 10:30 Recap and what it all means #AncientHumans #Lithium #Science