Mr.Webster of dictionary fame decided to only use Aluminum in his publication so that took over.
The bigger player here is probably Charles Martin Hall, who invented* a cheap method of refining it. Turns out yeah, if it’s marketed and sold as aluminum in the US that’s what people will know it as.
Although I guess it is possible Webster’s dictionary influenced Hall’s naming choice.
I wouldn’t mind if we went back to calling it alumium, though.
* as a sidenote, also invented in France in the same year (coincidence) by Paul Héroult, thus called the Hall-Héroult process
And the Americans started off by calling it Aluminium while the Brits called it Aluminum.
Mr.Webster of dictionary fame decided to only use Aluminum in his publication so that took over.
The Brits changed to using Aluminium after a German called it as such.
Same Brits tricked us into calling it soccer then changed their minds.
The bigger player here is probably Charles Martin Hall, who invented* a cheap method of refining it. Turns out yeah, if it’s marketed and sold as aluminum in the US that’s what people will know it as.
Although I guess it is possible Webster’s dictionary influenced Hall’s naming choice.
I wouldn’t mind if we went back to calling it alumium, though.
* as a sidenote, also invented in France in the same year (coincidence) by Paul Héroult, thus called the Hall-Héroult process