The green color of the emerald comes from chromium
Chromium was first discovered in France in the year 1797. A man named Louis Nicholas Vauquelin was studying Siberian "red lead" when he found another substance besides lead. It was later called chromium oxide or CrO3. Vauquelin later discovered that emeralds get it's green color from the chromium in the jewel. That's where Chromium's name comes from, the word "chroma" which is Greek for "color."
