A dense, silvery-white metallic chemical element with the symbol Re and atomic number 75, having the third-highest melting point of all elements.
Named after the Rhine River (Latin 'Rhenus') by German chemists Ida and Walter Noddack and Otto Berg who discovered it in 1925. The name honors the Rhine region of Germany where the discovery was made. It was one of the last naturally occurring elements to be discovered.
Rhenium was the last stable element to be discovered, and it's so rare that the entire world's annual production could fit in your cupped hands! The discoverers chose to name it after the Rhine River as a patriotic gesture during the difficult post-World War I period in Germany.
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