What happened when Albert Hofmann discovered LSD in 1943?

On 19 April 1943 a Swiss chemist named Albert Hofmann took LSD on purpose for the first time, felt the world distort around him, and set off for home by bicycle. That ride is now remembered as Bicycle Day, and it was the first intentional LSD trip in history. He had not been looking for a mind-altering drug at all. He worked for the Sandoz company in Basel, where he was searching ergot, a fungus that grows on grain, for medically useful chemicals.

Hofmann first made LSD in 1938. It was the 25th compound in a series he built from lysergic acid, hence its other name, LSD-25, and he was trying to develop a new stimulant. It was then set aside for five years. Then, on 16 April 1943, he looked at it again and accidentally discovered its powerful effects.

Three days later he took it deliberately. He expected a threshold amount, in line with other ergot compounds, but the effects were much stronger than he had anticipated. His trip was at first not pleasant: people appeared to turn into fantastic creatures, furniture moved like living things, and he felt possessed by otherworldly forces. Hence the bike ride home.

What happened next is part of the story of medicine. Sandoz supplied LSD to researchers under the name Delysid, hoping to find a market for it, and psychiatrists tried it on many conditions. Later reviews were harsh, though: most early studies were of very low quality, and a 1975 review found little difference from placebo for most conditions. In old age Hofmann, by contrast, called LSD "medicine for the soul" and regretted its prohibition.