Einsteinium

Einsteinium was discovered by accident. In 1952 the United States tested its first hydrogen bomb, code-named Ivy Mike, in the Pacific. A team led by Albert Ghiorso sifted the fallout and found atoms of a new element, formed when uranium absorbed many neutrons at once in the blast. The work was kept secret until 1955. They named it after Albert Einstein.

Today einsteinium is made in tiny amounts in high-power research reactors. It is so radioactive that its own radiation damages its crystal structure, and samples glow in the dark. It has no uses beyond research, though in 1955 it was the target used to make mendelevium.