The History of Aspirin

By ljr12
  • 2000 BCE

    Sumer

    Sumer
    The main ingredient in Aspirin is Salicylic acid, which is can be found in the bark of a willow tree. The first recorded use of willow bark as a medicinal remedy dates back to the Sumerians, who noted this information on early clay tablets.
  • 450 BCE

    Hippocrates

    Hippocrates
    The Father of Modern Medicine, Hippocrates, started recommending willow bark tea to patients suffering from fever and pain.
  • 1 CE

    The Spread

    The Spread
    The healing properties of willow bark started spreading to Chinese and Greek Civilizations.
  • 100

    Dioscorides

    Dioscorides
    In Greece, physician named Dioscorides started prescribing willow bark as an anti-inflammatory agent to patients with a fever.

  • Edward Stone

    Edward Stone
    Reverend Edward Stone of the Royal Society of London started studying the effects of willow bark powder by prescribing it to patients suffering from ague, a fever caused by malaria.

  • Johann Büchner

    Johann Büchner
    Johann Büchner and a team of scientists discovered that it was a specific compound called salicilin in the willow plants that relieved pain.

  • Charles Frederic Gerhardt

    Charles Frederic Gerhardt neutralized the salicylic acid by adding sodium to it, and he created acetylsalicylic acid. His product worked but he abandoned the discovery because he didn't want to sell it.

  • Felix Hoffmann

    Felix Hoffmann, a German chemist working for a company called Bayer, rediscovered Charles Frederic Gerhardt's formula. He recreated some for his father who was in pain from arthritis. His recipe worked so well that Hoffmann convinced Bayer to start producing it.

  • Bayer

    Bayer
    On February 27th, 1900, Bayer started selling the acetylsalicylic acid in powder form. They named their product "Aspirin", the "A" coming from acetyl chloride, and the "spir" coming from spiraea ulmaria (the plant they got the salicylic acid from).

  • First Tablets Produced

    First Tablets Produced
    In 1915, Bayer started producing and selling Aspirin in tablet form instead of their standard powdered form.

  • Treaty of Versailles

    Treaty of Versailles
    As part of the Treaty of Versailles, Bayer was forced to give up their trademark of Aspirin due to Germany losing World War I.

  • John Robert Vane

    John Robert Vane
    Scientists and pharmacologists like John Robert Vane started conducting experiments to find out how Aspirin worked in the body as an anti-inflammatory agent.

  • Present Day

    Present Day
    Today Americans consume 16,000 tons (80 billion tablets) of Aspirin per year, and spend about $2 billion on over the counter pain relievers.