When was boron first isolated?

Boron was first isolated in 1808 by two independent teams: Sir Humphry Davy in England and Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac with Louis Jacques Thénard in France. They worked on boron compounds and separated the element in an impure form, marking it as a distinct chemical element. Boron is unusual because it is found in compounds rather than in free metallic form in nature. It later became important in glass, detergents, and advanced materials.