Charles Martin Hall

Charles Martin Hall (1863-1914) was a native of Thompson, Ohio. He is best known for his discovery in 1886 of an inexpensive method for refining aluminum, the Hall-Heroult process (called such because of the nearly simultaneous discovery of the same process by the Frenchman Paul Heroult). His discovery was made in his home laboratory shortly after finishing his undergraduate studies at Oberlin College in Ohio. In 1888, after failing to find financial backing at home, Hall went to Pittsburg where he opened the first large-scale aluminum production plant with the support of Alfred E. Hunt.

Patents

• US400664 -- Process of reducing aluminum from its floride salts by electrolysis -- C. M. Hall