Dmitri Mendeleev Trivia Questions

He organized by atomic weight, which sometimes caused misplacements. The modern table uses atomic number (proton count), a refinement made later by Moseley.

He never won the Nobel Prize; he died in 1907, just one year before the Nobel Committee seriously considered him, but he missed out due to technicalities.

Several scientists, like John Newlands and Lothar Meyer, had earlier versions. Mendeleev’s was the most comprehensive, but not the first.

He famously left gaps in his periodic table and accurately predicted elements like gallium, germanium, and scandium before they were found.

He resigned from St. Petersburg University in 1890 after a dispute over student protests, but he wasn't fired for radical politics—he supported academic freedom.

He worked on a government commission that set the standard alcohol content for vodka at 40% ABV, though the exact myth about his role is often exaggerated.

In 1887, he flew alone in a balloon because his pilot was too heavy. He piloted it himself, made observations, and landed safely.

He was actually the youngest of 14 or 17 children (sources vary), but he was not the 17th—his mother had many children, and he was the last.