LSD

On April 19, 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann pedaled his bicycle through Basel streets experiencing terrifying hallucinations. Wartime vehicle restrictions meant no cars, so Hofmann completed his journey on two wheels. This "Bicycle Day" marked humanity's first intentional encounter with lysergic acid diethylamide.

The story began five years earlier, rooted in centuries of pharmaceutical investigation into ergot fungus. Ergot, the spore form of Claviceps purpurea, had contaminated rye crops causing mass poisonings for millennia. By 1934, researchers identified lysergic acid as the common backbone of all ergot alkaloids. Sandoz pharmaceutical company dominated world production.

Hofmann first synthesized LSD-25 on November 16, 1938, hoping to create a circulatory stimulant. Initial tests proved disappointing; he shelved it for five years. On April 16, 1943, driven by "peculiar presentiment," he resynthesized it and accidentally absorbed a droplet through his skin. Three days later, he intentionally ingested 250 micrograms—ten times the threshold dose. His laboratory assistant escorted him home by bicycle for the full psychedelic cascade.

Between 1950s-1970s, over 1,000 clinical papers documented LSD's use treating alcoholism, depression, and anxiety. But the CIA, terrified of Soviet mind control, launched MKUltra in 1953, purchasing the world's entire LSD supply and distributing it to universities through front organizations. Ironically, these experiments seeded the counterculture: Ken Kesey first took LSD in a CIA-funded experiment, then began stealing hospital supplies. His "Acid Tests" launched psychedelia into the mainstream.

In March 2024, the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to pharmacologically optimized LSD for generalized anxiety disorder, showing 65% clinical response rate. The substance born from ergot fungus, synthesized in wartime Switzerland, is returning to clinical research 81 years after Hofmann's bicycle ride.