Ether

In 1842, Crawford Long became the first physician to use ether as anesthesia. He used the medication to remove a tumor from a patient's neck. Crawford Long was born in Danielsville, Georgia, shared a room in college with Alexander Stephens, and his cousin was Doc Holliday.

In his early twenties, Dr. Long was a single partier. He noticed at many of the ether parties he attended that most participants would bang themselves up quite a bit. Despite developing large bruises, the partiers felt no pain during these frolics. From this recreational use of the drug, he wondered if similar benefit could be found medically. The rest is history.