Vanadium was discovered in 1801 by the Spanish mineralogist, Andres Manuel del Rio, who was later persuaded that what he had found was actually basic lead chromate. The element was rediscovered in 1830 by the Swedish chemist, Nils Gabriel Sefstrom.
In the same year that vanadium was first discovered, the British chemist, Charles Hatchett, isolated the oxide of an element which he named columbium and which is now known as niobium. Tantalum was discovered in 1802 by the Swedish chemist, Anders Gustaf Ekeberg, and such are the similarities that exist between tantalum and niobium that until 1844, when Heinrich Rose proved otherwise, it was thought that they were in fact the same element. Their names reflect this close association: in Greek mythology, Tantalus is the father of Niobe.
Both niobium and tantalum are found as by-products of tin extraction in Nigeria and Malaysia.
