The Wonders of the Periodic Table Element – Thorium. Once upon a time, in the vast realm of chemistry, there existed a mysterious element known as thorium. Thorium’s story begins in 1828 when a Swedish chemist named Jons Jacob Berzelius first isolated this intriguing element from a mineral called thorite, which had been discovered in Norway. Little did Berzelius know, he had uncovered a potential treasure buried deep in the earth’s crust!