First discovered in 1879 by Sir William Crookes while conducting experiments with his Crooks tube, his discovery was initially called 'cathode rays' (electrons). The actual name for plasma however didn't come about until 1928 when Irving Langmuir compared the ionized gas to blood plasma.
Plasma is an ionized gas, which is a gas where electrons are flowing freely and giving positive or negative charges to atoms, thus making it a highly efficient conductor of electricity and generator of heat. Plasma is extremely common in the universe. Some of the many examples of plasma include lightning, St Elmo's fire nebula and the Sun. Man-made applications include plasma televisions and neon lights.
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