Historically, manganese is named for pyrolusite an ither black meenerals frae the region o Magnesia in Greece, that an aw gae its name tae magnesium an the airn ure magnetite. Bi the mid-18th century, Swadish-GermanchemistCarl Wilhelm Scheele haed uised pyrolusite tae produce chlorine. Scheele an ithers war awaur that pyrolusite (nou kent tae be manganese dioxide) conteened a new element, but thay war unable tae isolate it. Johan Gottlieb Gahn wis the first tae isolate an impure saumple o manganese metal in 1774, that he did bi reducin the dioxide wi caurbon.
In biology, manganese(II) ions function as cofactors for a muckle variety o enzymes wi mony functions.[2] Manganese enzymes are pairteecularly essential in detoxification o superoxide free radicals in organisms that maun deal wi elemental oxygen. Manganese an aw functions in the oxygen-evolvin complex o photosynthetic plants. While the element is a required trace meeneral for aw kent leevin organisms, it an aw acts as a neurotoxin in muckler amoonts. Espeicially throu inhalation, it can cause manganism, a condeetion in mammals leadin tae neurological damage that is whiles irreversible.