1899 : Bayer patents aspirin
On this day in 1899, the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin registers
Aspirin, the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, on behalf of the
German pharmaceutical company Friedrich Bayer & Co.
Now the most common drug in household medicine cabinets,
acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from a chemical found in the
bark of willow trees. In its primitive form, the active ingredient,
salicin, was used for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient
Greece when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever. Known to
doctors since the mid-19thcentury, it was used sparingly due to its
unpleasant taste and tendency to damage the stomach.
In 1897, Bayer employee Felix Hoffman found a way to create a stable
form of the drug that was easier and more pleasant to take. (Some
evidence shows that Hoffman's work was really done by a Jewish
chemist, Arthur Eichengrun, whose contributions were covered up during
the Nazi era.) After obtaining the patent rights, Bayer began
distributing aspirin in powder form to physicians to give to their
patients one gram at a time. The brand name came from "a" for acetyl,
"spir" from the spirea plant (a source of salicin) and the suffix
"in," commonly used for medications. It quickly became the number-one
drug worldwide.
Aspirin was made available in tablet form and without a prescription
in 1915. Two years later, when Bayer's patent expired during the First
World War, the company lost the trademark rights to aspirin in various
countries. After the United States entered the war against Germany in
April 1917, the Alien Property Custodian, a government agency that
administers foreign property, seized Bayer's U.S. assets. Two years
later, the Bayer company name and trademarks for the United States and
Canada were auctioned off and purchased by Sterling Products Company,
later Sterling Winthrop, for $5.3 million.
Bayer became part of IG Farben, the conglomerate of German chemical
industries that formed the financial heart of the Nazi regime. After
World War II, the Allies split apart IG Farben, and Bayer again
emerged as an individual company. Its purchase of Miles Laboratories
in 1978 gave it a product line including Alka-Seltzer and Flintstones
and One-A-Day Vitamins. In 1994, Bayer bought Sterling Winthrop's
over-the-counter business, gaining back rights to the Bayer name and
logo and allowing the company once again to profit from American sales
of its most famous product.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1899 : Bayer patents aspirin
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52415
1475 : Michelangelo born
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6828
1857 : Supreme Court rules in Dred Scott case
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4813
1983 : Kohl elected West German chancellor
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4814
#########################################
On this day in 1899, the Imperial Patent Office in Berlin registers
Aspirin, the brand name for acetylsalicylic acid, on behalf of the
German pharmaceutical company Friedrich Bayer & Co.
Now the most common drug in household medicine cabinets,
acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from a chemical found in the
bark of willow trees. In its primitive form, the active ingredient,
salicin, was used for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient
Greece when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever. Known to
doctors since the mid-19thcentury, it was used sparingly due to its
unpleasant taste and tendency to damage the stomach.
In 1897, Bayer employee Felix Hoffman found a way to create a stable
form of the drug that was easier and more pleasant to take. (Some
evidence shows that Hoffman's work was really done by a Jewish
chemist, Arthur Eichengrun, whose contributions were covered up during
the Nazi era.) After obtaining the patent rights, Bayer began
distributing aspirin in powder form to physicians to give to their
patients one gram at a time. The brand name came from "a" for acetyl,
"spir" from the spirea plant (a source of salicin) and the suffix
"in," commonly used for medications. It quickly became the number-one
drug worldwide.
Aspirin was made available in tablet form and without a prescription
in 1915. Two years later, when Bayer's patent expired during the First
World War, the company lost the trademark rights to aspirin in various
countries. After the United States entered the war against Germany in
April 1917, the Alien Property Custodian, a government agency that
administers foreign property, seized Bayer's U.S. assets. Two years
later, the Bayer company name and trademarks for the United States and
Canada were auctioned off and purchased by Sterling Products Company,
later Sterling Winthrop, for $5.3 million.
Bayer became part of IG Farben, the conglomerate of German chemical
industries that formed the financial heart of the Nazi regime. After
World War II, the Allies split apart IG Farben, and Bayer again
emerged as an individual company. Its purchase of Miles Laboratories
in 1978 gave it a product line including Alka-Seltzer and Flintstones
and One-A-Day Vitamins. In 1994, Bayer bought Sterling Winthrop's
over-the-counter business, gaining back rights to the Bayer name and
logo and allowing the company once again to profit from American sales
of its most famous product.
history.com/tdih.do
General Interest
1899 : Bayer patents aspirin
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=52415
1475 : Michelangelo born
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6828
1857 : Supreme Court rules in Dred Scott case
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4813
1983 : Kohl elected West German chancellor
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4814
#########################################
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