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Earwax has antimicrobial properties that reduce the viability of bacteria and fungus in the human ear.
In 1844, Charles Goodyear obtained the first patent for a rubber condom.
Cocaine was isolated in 1860 and first used as a local anesthetic in 1884. Its first clinical use was by Sigmund Freud to wean a patient from morphine addiction. The fictional character Sherlock Holmes was supposed to be addicted to cocaine by injection.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA was discovered in 1961 in the United Kingdom. It if often referred to as a superbug. MRSA infections cause more deaths in the United States every year than AIDS.
More than 2,500 barbiturates have been synthesized. At the height of their popularity, about 50 were marketed for human use.