Holmium

Holmium is named after Stockholm, Sweden (Holmia is the Latin name for Stockholm). Discovered in 1878 by Jacques-Louis Soret and independently by Per Teodor Cleve, holmium has the highest magnetic strength of any element — its magnetic moment is greater than any other naturally occurring element, which is quite an impressive record.

Holmium's incredible magnetic properties make it useful in the pole pieces of very strong magnets and in nuclear reactor control rods. Holmium lasers (Ho:YAG lasers) are used in medical surgery, particularly for breaking up kidney stones and treating certain eye conditions. Holmium is also used to calibrate spectrophotometers because it has unusually sharp absorption peaks.

Holmium's symbol 'Ho' is a fun and versatile two-letter element in Spellement. It matches the start of words like 'home,' 'hope,' and 'hot,' fitting a very common English letter pair. This makes holmium one of the most intuitive and naturally useful elements for creative word building.