LSD first synthesized - November 16, 1938

On this day in 1938, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann synthesized LSD.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hello History Lovers. I'm Eves and you're listening
to This Day in History Class, a show that uncovers
history one day at a time. Today is November sixteen.

(00:23):
The day was November six night. Swiss chemist Dr Albert
Hoffman first synthesized like sergic acid dieta lambide, better known
as LSD, in Sandos laboratories in Fossils, Switzerland. LSD is
a psychoactive hallucinogenic drug that has since been used in
psychiatry and government research and recreationally. After Hoffman graduated from

(00:49):
the University of Zurich with a doctorate in medicinal chemistry,
he began working at the pharmaceutical company Sando's laboratories. In
the nineteen twenties, Sandos began produce saying drug compounds that
were derived from ergic, a grain fungus. For centuries, people
had recognized the effects of ergic, which when consumed could

(01:09):
cause vomiting, headaches, gang greene convulsions, and hallucinations. Ergic was
also known for its medicinal properties, and Sands developed gayner Gen,
a headache medicine using ergotamine isolated from ergic fungus. As
a research chemist at Sandos, Hoffman worked with lysergic acid,

(01:29):
a compound extracted from ergic alkaloids. He studied derivatives of
lysergic acid, and he did experiments fusing lisergic acid with
other compounds. Lysergic acid is unstable, but Hoffman managed to
synthesize a more stable synthetic version that he called lyserg
salra diathy limit on November sight. Sidera is the German

(01:55):
word for acid. It was numbered because it was the
twenty fifth compounded that Hoffman made for the project. LSD
twenty five did not seem like it had any useful
medical properties at the time, even though the research report
noted that the animals in the experiment became restless during
the narcosis. That urgate project was discontinued, but five years

(02:19):
after the initial discovery, Hoffman decided to return to LSD
t He later wrote, quote a peculiar presentiment. The feeling
that this substance could possess properties other than those established
in the first investigations induced me, five years after the
first synthesis, to produce LSD once again, so that a

(02:40):
sample could be given to the pharmacological department for further tests.
In ninety three, as he searched for substances that could
work as circulatory or respiratory stimulants, he synthesized LSD again.
That April, Hoffman accidentally absorbed a dose of LSD while
working in the lab. Three days later, he intentionally ingested

(03:02):
LSD so he could test its effects. Soon after he
took the dose, he wrote in his journal that he
felt dizziness, anxiety, symptoms of paralysis, and a desire to laugh,
and that he saw visual distortions. He asked his lab
assistant to escort him home, and they left the lab
on a bicycle since there were wartime restrictions on cars.

(03:25):
Once home, Hoffman said that the room spun furniture appeared
threatening and his neighbor had transformed into a quote malevolent
and studious wick. The zero point to five milligram dose
he had taken was around ten times larger than the
threshold dose he should have taken, so the effects were intense.
Hoffman wrote a report incented to his supervisors. Other employees

(03:47):
tried LSD, and soon it was determined to be a
non toxic psychotropic compound and Hoffman continued to dose himself,
convinced it could be useful in psychiatric treatment. In nineteen
forty seven, Sandos began offering LSD to researchers and medical
professionals under the brand name Delsit for experimental trials. Psychiatry

(04:09):
and psychotherapy professionals as well as Hoffman himself, had hoped
that the drug could be useful in therapeutic treatments for
people with schizophrenia. Military officials working with the Central Intelligence
Agency in the US also experimented with LSD in Project
mk Ultra, a program developed to figure out procedures for
interrogation and mind control. When casual recreational use of LSD

(04:34):
picked up in the nineteen sixties, Hoffmann criticized misuse of
the drug, which was often taken without supervision or in
dangerous amounts and manufactured in poor conditions. Though it's relatively
non toxic and non addictive, many governments around the world
banned LSD after deaths related to his use were reported
and it was found to post psychological risk for people

(04:57):
susceptible to psychosis. Scientific trials of LSD were shut down.
I'm Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little
more about history today than you did yesterday. If you
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(05:18):
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(05:38):
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