Who discovered fluorite?

Fluorite or fluospar is first mentioned by the German scientist Georgius Agricola in 1530. In 1852, George Gabriel Stokes found that fluorite glows a blue-violet color when illuminated with ultraviolet light. He named the phenomenon fluorescence after the mineral.

Fluorite comes in many colors and may also be multicolored or banded. All colored fluorites owe their color to impurities in the stone, as pure fluorite is colorless. The mineral is prized for ornamental carvings and for making beads. It is also used in making high-quality lenses, prisms and ceramics. Its primary industrial uses are in making hydrogen fluoride and as a flux to remove impurities from metal during smelting.