Curium

Curium was discovered by Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A.James, and Albert Ghiorso in 1944- right after the discovery of Americium. Curium was first named "delirium" because of the troubles that workers had separating it from americium. It was named after Marie and Pierre Curie, who devoted a lot of time working on radioactivity and discovered radium and polonium.

Curium is a dangerous element to handle- if not stored/handled right, it accumulates in bones and destroys the marrow- therefore preventing the formation of red blood cells. It is highly radioactive- so much so that it glows red in the dark. Otherwise, it is a dull silvery-white metal that tarnishes slowly at room temp. It is mainly used in scientific research.