The city of Atlanta, Georgia, in Fulton County, was an important rail and commercial center during the American Civil War. Although relatively small in population, the city became a critical point of contention during the Atlanta Campaign in 1864 when a powerful Union army approached from Union-held Tennessee.
Rare-earth compounds containing lanthanum are extensively used in carbon lighting applications, especially by the motion picture industry for studio lighting and projection.
Lanthanum reacts with water to form lanthanum hydroxide plus hydrogen gas. Lanthanum is chemically reactive and forms compounds with carbon, nitrogen, boron, selenium, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, and with the halogens. Lanthanum usually exists as a trivalent ion, La 3+ , in its compounds.anthanum is also used to make night vision goggles (infrared-absorbing glass). High quality camera and telescope lenses contain lanthanum oxide (La 2 O 3) making use of its high refractive index and low dispersion.