A visit to the doctor is never complete without a prescription for pills or tablets. Bitter or sweet, they are an integral part of treatment all over the world today. Have you ever wondered how and when pills were invented?
Before pills, medicines were administered in liquid form. The first pills are believed to date back to 1,500 BC. The earliest reference to pills was found in a set of ancient Egyptian papyruses. According to them, medicinal ingredients were mixed with bread, oil or honey and shaped into tiny balls. In ancient Greece such medicines were called ‘katapotia’, which means something to be swallowed. The Roman scholar, Pliny first called such medicines ‘pilula’ meaning ‘ball’ in Latin.
In medieval times pills were coated with slimy substances to make them easier to swallow. Some pills were even coated in gold and silver! Such pills were called gilded pills. In the 17th century, pills became popular in England and pill makers were granted special patent rights from the king. This meant that their top secret pill formulas were protected by law.
In the 1800s pills began to be sugar-coated and gelatine capsules were invented. In 1843, a British artist and watchmaker named William Brockedon invented a machine to compress and shape pills into the modern form that we see them in today. This machine was able to compress powder into the shape of a tablet without the use of an adhesive. Brockedon’s invention was a precursor to the modern-day pharmaceutical industry.
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