In 1774, the Swedish chemist C.W. Scheele sent the article "On Manganese and Its Properties" to the Stockholm Academy of Sciences; he is considered the discoverer of manganese.
In 1774, Swedish chemist J.G. Gahn heated pyrolusite powder and charcoal purified by Scheele in a crucible for 1 hour to obtain a button-shaped manganese metal block.
In 1895, H. Goldschmidt obtained a patent for the thermite production of manganese metal.
In the early 20th century, the electrosilicothermal method began to be used to produce manganese metal.
In 1923, A.I. Allmand and A.N. Camplell reported electrolytic manganese produced by electrolysis of manganese sulfate aqueous solution.
In February 1936, the U.S. Bureau of Mines completed a semi-industrial test of producing electrolytic manganese from an aqueous solution of manganese sulfate.
In 1938, the American Electromanganese Company began to produce electrolytic manganese on an industrial scale.
The American Manganese Chemical Company built and put into operation a plant with an annual output of 2,000 tons of low-carbon ferromanganese using molten salt electrolysis in 1963.
China's Jilin Ferroalloy Factory tested the electrosilicothermal method to produce manganese metal in May 1957.
In 1959, Zunyi Ferroalloy Factory began to produce manganese metal using the electrosilothermal method on an industrial scale. In 1958, Shanghai Xiechengchang Smelter began trial production and production of electrolytic manganese.