A special case of the theorem was first proved by Hamilton in 1853 in terms of inverses of linear functions of quaternions(四元数). This corresponds to the special case of certain 4 × 4 real or 2 × 2 complex matrices.
Cayley in 1858 stated the result for 3 × 3 and smaller matrices, but only published a proof for the 2 × 2 case. As for n × n matrices, Cayley stated
“..., I have not thought it necessary to undertake the labor of a formal proof of the theorem in the general case of a matrix of any degree”.
The general case was first proved by Ferdinand Frobenius in 1878.
[1] Arthur Cayley, F.R.S. (1821–1895) is widely regarded as Britain's leading pure mathematician of the 19th century. William Rowan Hamilton (1805–1865), Irish physicist, astronomer, and mathematician. ↩