The carbolic smoke ball 

The Carbolic Smoke Ball case is a key part of UK contract law. After promising money if the device (a pump to squirt carbolic acid up the user’s nose) didn’t prevent the user catching flu, the company refused to pay out. The device’s makers lost the case, making ridiculous advertisements a thing of the past. In theory, at least…
-

The contraceptive pill

The contraceptive pill has revolutionised birth control. While condoms were around long before, the launch of the pill in 1960 put the power to prevent conception firmly in the hands of women.

Coca-Cola

Since its invention in 1886 to treat nausea and stomach upsets, the carbonated soft drink has gone from strength to strength. Coca-Cola currently holds Guinness World Records for the Largest Global Brand, Most Popular Soft Drink and, bizarrely, organising the World’s Longest Line Dance.

Penicillin

Antibiotics are some of the most important drugs in the pharmacy toolkit, and penicillin was the first to emerge. It’s discoverer, the ever-modest Alexander Fleming, probably summed up when he said: “I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine... but I guess that was exactly what I did.”

The electric light bulb

Nothing is more synonymous with invention than a little light bulb appearing over someone’s head – and it’s only there because of a pharmacist. UK druggist Sir Joseph Swan patented the light bulb in 1878, making his home in Gateshead the first to be lit by electricity.

Custard powder

When Mrs Bird complained she couldn’t tolerate desserts containing eggs or yeast, her husband decided to do something about it. Always one with a sweet tooth, Birmingham pharmacist Alfred Bird created eggless custard and the result, Bird’s Custard, is still on sale today.

Table salt

Before George Duncan Bowie, salt used to come in damp blocks. But in 1891 the Scottish pharmacist came up with phosphorated salt, preventing water absorption. Fellow pharmacist George Weddell took the idea and ran with it, tinkering to produce the free-flowing dry salt that graces fish and chip shop counters today.

NRT

In the 1967 Swedish submarine crews were fed up of not being allowed to smoke. The Swedish government approached big pharma, and the result was nicotine gum to ease cravings. Now NRT has a key role in helping patients quit smoking, drastically improving health and lifestyles.