#columbium

Dr. E.H. Nichel examines a sample of columbium, Oka, Quebec (1956)

: [adj] of or like the element NIOBIUM, formerly known as COLUMBIUM

Discovered in 1801 by English chemist Charles Hatchett from a mineral sample sent to him from Massachusetts, columbium (atomic number 41) was given it’s name after the poetical term for the US, “Columbia.” After some confusion over columbium’s similarities to tantalum, in 1846 German chemist renamed columbium NIOBIUM, after Niobe, a daughter of Tantalus.

Quick Greek mythology recap: Tantalus, ruler of the city of Tantalis, stole ambrosia and nectar from Zeus’s table in Olympus, and to “apologize” he chopped up his son, Pelops, and the boiled the boy up and served him to the gods. Luckily the gods discovered what was on the menu in time to decline--only Demeter took a bite, she got some shoulder meat--and Zeus ordered one of the Fates to put the boy back together and bring him to life. As punishment, Tantalus was made to forever stand in a pool of water, beneath branches of a fruit tree. Whenever he reached up for a bite to eat, the branches raised out of his reach; whenever he bent over for a drink, the water receded. From his name we get the word TANTALIZE (TANTALISE).

His daughter, Niobe, Pelops’ sister, is also remembered for a misdeed and punishment. She boasted of her fourteen children to Leto, who only had two. Unfortunately those two were Apollo and Artemis, and the former killed Niobe’s (six or seven, depending on the story) daughters and the latter Niobe’s (six or seven) sons. Niobe was was so grief-stricken she fled to her home at Mount Sipylus (now Mt. Spil in Turkey), where she was turned into the “Weeping Rock,” and water like tears streamed from the rock face. 

It is unclear if Mt. Spil is at all columbic.

The number of infected people, measured over 70-some years and across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, generally declined after vaccines were introduced. The heat maps below show number of cases per 100,000 people.

Niobium, which was formerly columbium, is a chemical element with the symbol Nb (formerly Cb) and atomic number 41. 

Niobium has a similar structure to Tantalum and is produced in a similar method.

It too has a very high melting point of around 2470°C.

It has excellent corrosive resistance and has good cold ductility.

It is however half as dense as Tantalum.