An Ohio Chemist Invented Benadryl

He worked at the University of Cincinnati

When was the last time you took Benadryl (or its equivalent)?

My guess is that you, like probably 90% of Americans, have some in your medicine cabinet. It’s likely on the shelf next to the aspirin, the rubbing alcohol, and the Band-aids. Some of you might even regularly carry Benadryl in your purse or backpack, especially during allergy season.

What you probably don’t know is that antihistamine diphenhydramine (yes, Benadryl) is a relatively new lifesaving medication that came about during the WWII technology boom that happend in America.

It’s also the brainchild on an Ohio chemist from the Cincinnati area named George Rieveschl.

Rieveschl attended the University of Cincinnati after growing up in Arlington Heights, a small town on the larger city’s outskirts. He spent most of his career at UC, working as a chemist and professor at the school. And in 1943, as the country poured resources into technology, innovation, and military advancement, Rieveschl and his students made the advancements that would bring us Benadryl.

It made him a rich man.

Following the breakthrough, Rieveschl went onto a lucrative career with Parke-Davis. He also stayed around Cincinnati and was known for his generosity. When he died in 2007, he’d given more than $10 million to UC alone.