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2000 B.C. - The first recorded mention
of impotence is written on Egyptian papyrus scrolls. |
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1000 A.D. - In India, Ayurvedic medicine and the Kama
Sutra make references to erectile dysfunction. One suggested remedy: ram's
testicle boiled in milk. |
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320 B.C. - According to Greek philosopher Theophrastus,
a plant called satyrion can enable a man to perform up to 70 times in a row. |
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50 A.D. - Roman physician Pliny the Elder sets down a
comprehensive list of impotence cures and aphrodisiacs, including
ginger, truffles, vulture lung, rooster testicles, and goose tongue.
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1234 - Impotence is grounds for divorce
under Catholic law. Pope Gregory IX declares that to validate a
marriage, an assigned matron must witness the couple in an "act of
congress" performed by firelight. |
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1400 - In China, carved jade and ivory rings are used to
maintain erections.
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1486 - A Catholic inquisitor authors Malleus Malleficarum
(The Witches' Hammer) in Germany. According to this treatise on the practice
of witchcraft, most witches are female, and are capable of inducing
impotence.
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1605 - Shakespeare notes that alcohol "provokes the desire, but it
takes away the performance." |
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1659 - First shipment of cocoa arrives in France from the
New World. The beverage is soon noted as an aphrodisiac.
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1700s - Spanish fly becomes a popular
aphrodisiac in Europe. |
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Early 1800s - French physician Vincent Marie Mondat
invents the mechanical penis pump. The basic technology has changed
little since then. |
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Late 1800s - A variety of quack cures for impotence
become popular, including radioactive tonics, and devices that administer
electric shocks. |
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1912 - Sigmund Freud postulates that
most cases of erectile dysfunction are caused by neuroses and repressed
desires, not physical causes. |
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1948 - Alfred Kinsey publishes his first report,
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, which reveals that erectile
dysfunction is far more prevalent than previously believed. |
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1960s - Surgical penile implants used successfully to
treat ED. |
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1970 - Sex researches Masters and Johnson declare that
most cases of impotence are psychological in origin, setting ED progress
back 50 years. |
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1983 - Dr. Giles Brindley demonstrates the efficacy of
an injectable penile drug by administering it to himself, then taking off
his pants during a presentation and parading his erection for examination. |
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1993 - Several exotic animal species become endangered
because they are being poached to collect body parts with supposed
aphrodisiac properties, such as tiger penis and rhinoceros horn. |
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1998 - The FDA approves Viagra, and erectile dysfunction
treatment enters a new era. Approval of Levitra and Cialis follow a few
years later. |
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