Oh wow, the colors, the lights, man.

April 16, 1943 –
LSD was first synthesized on April 7, 1938 by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland, as part of a large research program searching for medically useful ergot alkaloid derivatives. Its psychedelic properties were unknown until five years later, when Hofmann, acting on what he has called a “peculiar presentiment,” returned to work on the chemical. He attributed the discovery of the compound’s psychoactive effects to the accidental absorption of a tiny amount through his skin on this date.

Here is the first instance of the defense I did not inhale – I accidentally dropped acid.

Here is an excerpt from Dr. Hofmann’s diary concerning this day –

… Last Friday, April 16,1943, I was forced to interrupt my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and proceed home, being affected by a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away….

Truly, what a long strange trip it’s been.