Quinine
- Year(s) Officially Discovered: 1,000 to 1,600 AD
- Discovery Put Into Action: Immediately
- Team/Person Behind The Discovery: Andeans, South American Jesuit Missionaries
Quinine is an anti-malarial compound that comes from Quina-Quina Tree bark, yet somehow also made its way into tonic water over the years. We now use it in malaria-fighting drugs with great success. Jesuit Missionaries used Quinine to treat malaria in South America dating back to around 1600 AD. Yet they were not the first to even know about it. They claimed as well as several legends surrounding the tree bark that it was used to treat malaria among the native Andean population.
However, the discovery that it helped malaria was really just luck. A tale surrounding it claims that an Andean man with a fever was lost in the jungle, as he suffered from malaria. He then drank from a pool of water near the Quina-Quina tree, which seemed to help him. While it tasted bitter, his fever lessened from the water and once he made his way home, he told his people about it. This is clearly one of the greatest discoveries ever, regardless of who discovered it.