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The Man Who Put the Pee in Phosphorus
In the 1660s, German alchemist Hennig Brand intended to turn urine into gold. But 1,500 gallons of dehydrated pee led him instead to discover phosphorus.
From Wikipedia’s history of alchemy: “In the eyes of a variety of esoteric and Hermetic practitioners, alchemy is fundamentally spiritual. Transmutation of lead into gold is presented as an analogy for personal transmutation, purification, and perfection.”
Credit: Great Big Story