Aluminum is a silvery-gray post transition metal with a melting point of 660 degrees Celsius. It is a slightly reactive metal, but forms a hard oxide layer on its surface which protects it from further corrosion. It has oxidation states of +1, +2, and +3. It is light, soft, and malleable. This makes it extremely useful. It may have been produced as early as the third century AD, it was found in a metal ornament in a Chinese general's tomb. However, nobody else knew about isolating Aluminum until 1827 when the German chemist Friedrich Wohler succeeded in doing so. 

Aluminum is widely used in everything from aluminum foil to car parts to planes due to its lightness. It is also used in cans and lids and pretty much everything that is made of metal besides steel.