Thallium is a chemical element with the symbol Tl and atomic number 81. This soft gray poor metal resembles tin

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

 but discolors when exposed to air. The two chemists William Crookes

William Crookes

Sir William Crookes, OM, FRS was a British chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, London, and worked on spectroscopy...

 and Claude-Auguste Lamy

Claude-Auguste Lamy

Claude Auguste Lamy was a French chemist who discovered the element thallium independently from William Crookes in 1862.-Life:...

 discovered thallium independently in 1861 by the newly developed method of flame spectroscopy. Both discovered the new element in residues of sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...

 production.

Approximately 60–70% of thallium production is used in the electronics industry, and the remainder is used in the pharmaceutical industry and in glass manufacturing

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

.