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Events on Monday 1 August 1774 1
1774Joseph Priestley isolates oxygenEnglish chemist identifies what he called "dephlogisticated air"Joseph Priestley heated mercuric oxide and collected a gas that caused flames to burn brighter, which he termed "dephlogisticated air." He published his findings on the discovery, made independently earlier by Carl Wilhelm Scheele. The work was a landmark in the emerging study of gases and combustion.