Tungsten was discovered as a distinct element in the year 1781 by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who identified tungstic acid from the mineral scheelite. The metal itself was first isolated in 1783 by Spanish chemists and mineralogists Juan José and Fausto Elhuyar through the reduction of tungstic acid with charcoal. The brothers are credited with the discovery of the element tungsten, which they initially called "wolfram" or "volfram".