1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 4 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: every day. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're taking a 5 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: closer look at the origin of aspirin, a medicine cabinet 6 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: staple and one of the most widely used over the 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: counter pain killers in the world. The day was March 8 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: six e the German pharmaceutical company Bear was granted a 9 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,480 Speaker 1: patent for its aspirin pain reliever. In case you don't 10 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: have a bottle handy, The active ingredient in aspirin is 11 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: a form of salicylic acid, a chemical whose analgesic properties 12 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,959 Speaker 1: make it a natural pain reliever and fever reducer. Salacilic 13 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,759 Speaker 1: acid can be found in the bark and leaves of 14 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: several kinds of trees and bushes, and that's where humans 15 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: first encountered it, way back in antiquity the fourth century BC. 16 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: At least that's when the early physician Hippocrates started advising 17 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: his fellow ancient Greeks to chew the bark and leaves 18 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:26,199 Speaker 1: of willow trees to help reduce fever and to relieve pain. 19 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: During childbirth. Ancient Egyptians did something similar with the leaves 20 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: from myrtle bushes, and Native Americans showed birch bark for 21 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,759 Speaker 1: pain relief. As you've probably guessed, all three of those 22 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: plants contain high levels of salacillic acid. Unfortunately, the pain 23 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: relieving chemical also comes with some unpleasant side effects, like 24 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: stomach irritation and in high enough doses, even permanent damage 25 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: to the digestive system. It also tasted terrible, which is 26 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: why some cultures used willow bark extract to make bombs 27 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: and teas instead of ingesting it on its own. These 28 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: drawbacks eventually lead to salacilic acid being used only sparingly 29 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: by doctors in the nineteenth century. It was a useful 30 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,920 Speaker 1: medicine except for when it caused more harm than it cured. 31 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 1: That's why it was a big deal in eighteen seven 32 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: when a German scientist working for Bear Pharmaceutical was able 33 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: to synthesize a less harmful, easier to digest chemical, a 34 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: setal salacilic acid or a s A. The search for 35 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,359 Speaker 1: a replacement for willow bark extract had been going on 36 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,519 Speaker 1: for years, but it was Bear who pulled it off. 37 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: By bonding salacilic acid to acetic acid, creating a new 38 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: synthetic medicine dubbed aspirin. To be fair, the chemist said 39 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 1: Bear weren't the first to synthesize a s A. A 40 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: different German chemist as well as a French one, both 41 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: hit upon the substance decades earlier. However, it was an 42 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: employee at Bear who first made a s A into 43 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: a safe, stable and usable medicinal compound. That's an important distinction. 44 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: But the German patent office didn't seem to think so. 45 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: It initially rejected Bear's patent application for aspirin on the 46 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: grounds that other people had already invented it. Luckily, the U. 47 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: S Patent Office was less discerning and issued Bear a 48 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 1: patent right away. The Imperial Patent Office in Berlin eventually 49 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: came around too, finally registering the patent for aspirin on 50 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: March sixth, eighteen ninety nine. With its patent rights in place, 51 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: Bear was ready to start marketing its latest drug. For 52 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: its first fifteen years or so on the market, the 53 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: company's aspirin was distributed it in powder form and was 54 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: only available to physicians who would then prescribe it to 55 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: their patients one Graham at a time. Even under those restrictions, 56 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: aspirin quickly became the top selling medication in the world. 57 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: Its dominance was solidified in nineteen fifteen when aspirin was 58 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:22,040 Speaker 1: finally made available in tablet form and without the need 59 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 1: for a prescription. This made it the first mass produced 60 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: over the counter pain reliever to come to market. The 61 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:35,280 Speaker 1: name aspirin hence at its key ingredients, the A stands 62 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: for a setal and the spur. The s P I 63 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: R comes from the spurry a plant, a source of 64 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: salacilic acid. As for the I N, that was just 65 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: a suffix commonly used for medications at the time. Originally, 66 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: Aspirin was a trademarked brand name like taylan All. However, 67 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: once Bear's original patent exp here during the First World War, 68 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: the company soon lost its trademark rights as well. An 69 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: Aspirin became a generic word for any A s A 70 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: based medicine that said Bear A g. The modern incarnation 71 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: of the company still holds the rights to the name 72 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: aspirin and more than eighty countries. In the nineteen seventies, 73 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: the pain killer took a hit when researchers discovered that 74 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: aspirin also had side effects, just like the willow bark 75 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: extract of old Frequent use of aspirin can lead to 76 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: stomach damage and can even cause hemorrhages. In light of 77 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: those discoveries, and with new forms of pain relief hitting 78 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: the market, aspirin use has dropped off in recent years. 79 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: It still has its uses, though. Aspirin works well for 80 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 1: headaches and for reducing inflammation and joints. It's also an anticoagulant, 81 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: which is why it can reduce the risk of heart 82 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: attack or stroke and some people. You may have noticed 83 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: a key piece of information missing from the story of 84 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 1: aspirin's invention, namely the identity of the chemist at Bear 85 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: who made it. For decades, the only accepted answer was 86 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: a man named Felix Hoffman, one of the scientists on 87 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: the team that created the first stable form of the drug. However, 88 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: in recent years evidence has come to light showing that 89 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,599 Speaker 1: credit for the discovery almost certainly belongs to someone else, 90 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: another scientist working for Bear named Arthur Ike and Groon. 91 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,719 Speaker 1: By all accounts, including detailed evidence furnished by Iken Groon, 92 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: he was actually the person who figured out how to 93 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: synthesize a usable form of a s A. Felix Hoffman 94 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: was ken Grun's colleague, but he was also his subordinate 95 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: acting on his boss's instructions. So then why did Hoffman 96 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: get all the credit. The answer is that he was 97 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: an Jewish scientist and Arthur iken Grun was. According to 98 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: his own account, iken Grun's contributions had been covered up 99 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: due to his Jewish background. The switch was made in 100 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty four, shortly after the Nazi regime took power 101 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: in Germany. That year, Bear began circulating in official history 102 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: of its most popular product, and the company gave Soul 103 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: credit for its invention to Felix Hoffman. Iken Grun read 104 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: the room and prudently decided not to protest this rewriting 105 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: of his own history. Besides, by that point he had 106 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 1: left the pharmaceutical business behind and moved into research on plastics. 107 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: Due to his contributions to German industry and his marriage 108 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: to a non Jewish woman, iken Grun was able to 109 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: continue his work in relative peace for the rest of 110 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:01,560 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties and into the early forties. However, in 111 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:06,240 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, the Nazis came for him too. He 112 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: was taken to Terraschien Stat, a transit camp the combined 113 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: features of a ghetto and a concentration camp. He remained 114 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:18,560 Speaker 1: there until the end of the war, but along the 115 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: way in nineteen forty four, the chemists tried to secure 116 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: his own release by citing his invention of aspirin. Ike 117 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: and Grun pleaded his case in a detailed letter to I. G. Farbin, 118 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:36,199 Speaker 1: the then current owner of Bear. He even included documents 119 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,679 Speaker 1: supporting his claim, but in the end it wasn't enough 120 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: to win him his freedom. Thankfully, ike and Grun survived 121 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: despite the indifference of his former employer. Once the war 122 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: had ended, he moved back to Berlin, where he was 123 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: actually viewed as a kind of national hero in some circles. 124 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: In nineteen forty nine, the year of his death, he 125 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: released an account of his true role in Aspirin's development. 126 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 1: It largely went overlooked for the next fifty years until 127 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: the research of pharmacologist Walter Sneeeder brought the story to 128 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: light again. As for Felix Hoffman, he may not deserve 129 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 1: all the credit for aspirin, but he still has at 130 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: least one claim to fame. That's all his for better 131 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: or worse. In August of the same month in which 132 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: aspirin was first synthesized, Hoffman stumbled upon another form of 133 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: pain reliever, a substance the Bear would go on to 134 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: trademark under the name Heroin. Bet you didn't see that 135 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:47,320 Speaker 1: one coming. I'm gay, Bluesier, and hopefully you now know 136 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than he did yesterday. 137 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: He can learn even more about history by following us 138 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t d I h 139 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,559 Speaker 1: C Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, 140 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,440 Speaker 1: you can always send them my way at this Day 141 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: at I heeart media dot com. Thanks as always to 142 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: Chandler Mayze for producing the show, and a special thanks 143 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: to Joey pat Our guest editor for this episode. Last, 144 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: but not least, thanks to you for listening. I'll see 145 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another Day in History class. 146 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 147 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 148 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: favorite shows.