Rodeo-doh And Rhodium-dum!

Last week we had a great time at Kids Club.  Wild Bob Hiccup threw himself into everything, even riding the Rodeo Bull. We wore matching badges on our Wild West outfits- his said Sheriff,  mine said Deputy. They were coated with rhodium to make them tarnish resistant.  Rhodium (atomic number 45) is a rare,  silvery white metal of the platinum group. 

I am mentioning this today because it is the 250th anniversary of the birth of William Hyde Wollaston who discovered the metal.  And not only that,  but he was actually born here in Norfolk,  just up the road in Dereham - how cool is that?

As well as rhodium, he also discovered palladium and worked out how to process platinum ore. He did significant work on electricity a full decade before Faraday,  made the first camera lens,  he studied diabetes,  served  on the Board of Longitude,  recommended the adoption of the imperial gallon and did loads more besides.  I really think that he deserves greater recognition.  Come on Dereham - celebrate this bloke born in a small market town, who went on to do so much more.