Acetaminophen (also called paracetamol) was first synthesized in the late 1870s, and first used in humans as a medicine in the late 1880s.

Quick Scoop

Key dates

  • First made in the lab:
    Chemist Harmon Northrop Morse synthesized paracetamol (acetaminophen) around 1877–1878 by reducing p‑nitrophenol with tin in glacial acetic acid.
  • First clinical use in people:
    Clinical pharmacologist Joseph von Mering gave paracetamol to patients around 1887 and published on its analgesic and fever‑reducing effects in 1893.
  • When it became widely used:
    Despite those early trials, it did not become a popular, widely adopted pain and fever medicine until the mid‑20th century.

So, if you’re asking “when was acetaminophen first used,” the earliest human use as a drug is usually dated to about 1887, while the chemical itself was first made in 1877–1878.

In today’s terms, that means your go‑to modern pain reliever actually has roots going back almost 150 years—long before most of the “latest news” on medications we see discussed in forums and health headlines.

TL;DR:

  • First synthesized: ~1877–1878.
  • First used in patients: ~1887, with results formally published in the early 1890s.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.