Modern sunscreen in the form we recognize today was first invented in the 1930s , with several key milestones often cited as its “invention” date.

Quick Scoop

If you’re asking “when was sunscreen invented,” there are a few important points people usually mean:

  • Ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and others used natural pastes and plant oils (such as rice bran, jasmine, or oils) to protect skin from the sun thousands of years ago, but these were not modern sunscreens.
  • Early scientific recognition of sun damage and UV radiation developed in the 1800s and early 1900s, laying the groundwork for sunscreen research.
  • In the mid‑1930s , products resembling commercial sunscreen began appearing, such as tanning oils and early UV‑filtering formulas (for example, Ambre Solaire in 1935–1936). These are often cited as the first commercial sunscreens.
  • In 1938 , Swiss chemistry student Franz Greiter created a product known as Gletscher Crème after getting badly sunburned on a mountain climb; this is widely referenced as one of the first modern sunscreens and a major milestone in sunscreen’s invention.
  • In the 1940s , American pharmacist Benjamin Green developed a sticky protective substance nicknamed Red Vet Pet , which evolved into the famous Coppertone products; this helped popularize sunscreen for soldiers and civilians after World War II.
  • Later, Greiter also introduced the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) concept, which became the standard way to rate sunscreen effectiveness.

So, if you want a single, simple answer:

  • People have used primitive sun protection for thousands of years.
  • Modern sunscreen is usually said to have been invented in the 1930s , with Franz Greiter’s 1938 Gletscher Crème and Eugene Schueller’s mid‑1930s products as key turning points.

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