100 years in the making

  • Welcome to the timeline of pharmacy in Alberta

    See how pharmacy in Alberta has evolved over the past 100 years and what else was happening during this period in our province and the world!

     

    To navigate the timeline:

    • Use the vertical and horizontal scroll bars at the edge of the frame.
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    • Or, you can also use your mouse's wheel to scroll vertically.

  • pre–1900

    • 1604 —Louis Hebert (Canada's unofficial first pharmacist) comes ashore from France onto
      what is now Nova Scotia to open an apothecary.
    • 1868 —The first full sized copy of the Canadian Pharmaceutical Journal appears in print. It is currently the oldest established professional journal in Canada.
    • 1881 —An act passes in Alberta "restricting the sale of drugs and medicines to only those persons holding a pharmacy diploma from a Medical Faculty in Great Britain, Ireland, or Canada." Before this act, anyone could open a store and establish a professional practice, regardless of qualification.
    • 1885 —J.D. Higginbotham opens the first Albertan drug store in Fort Macleod Alberta; he later transfers to Lethbridge, where he would own and operate a drug store for over 45 years.
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  • 1900–1910

    • 1903 —The Frank Slide occurs in the Crowsnest Pass.
    • 1904 —English physicians propose the idea that hormones act as chemical messengers through which the organs regulate bodily functions. This idea is the pharmacological basis for most drug therapy in use today.
    • 1905 —Alberta becomes a province; Edmonton is named the capital, and Liberal Alexander Cameron Rutherford is named Premier.
    • 1905 —The Canadian Northern Railway reaches Edmonton.
    • 1908 —The first Ford Model-T is manufactured in the world.
    • 1908 —The University of Alberta opens in Edmonton, with 45 students and a faculty of 5.
    • 1908 —The Proprietary or Patent Medicines Act states: "that all secret formula, non-pharmacopoeia, packaged medicines for internal use must be registered, with both the quantitative and qualitative formula provided, and sold under an assigned registered number to protect the public from harm".

  • 1910–1920

    • 1910 —Paul Ehrlich discovers Salvarson, a cure for syphilis, and the pharmacological basis for modern chemotherapy treatment.
    • 1910 —Annie Simpson becomes the first full time hospital pharmacist in the province at Calgary General Hospital.
    • 1911 —The Alberta Pharmaceutical Association comes into being with 7 councillors:James Findlay, D.W. McDonald (Registrar), C.S. Pringle, G.H. Graydon, H.S. Monkman, H.H. Gaetz and J.D. Higginbotham (President).
    • 1911 —The first two-day conference of the Alberta Pharmaceutical Association is held in Banff. Items on the agenda include: the sale of poisons to Alberta patients by a Winnipeg mail order service, reciprocity with Ontario legislation, and preventing the sale of liquor on Sunday.
    • 1912 —RMS Titanic sinks off the coast of Newfoundland, resulting in the deaths of over 1500 passengers.
    • 1913 —The first Pharmacy Practice Inspector, A. Barton, is appointed.
    • 1914 —Oil is discovered (for the first time in Alberta) in Turner Valley.
    • 1914 —Apprenticeship in pharmacy requires Grade 10 AND a minimum of age 14. The curriculum consists of a three-year apprenticeship followed by a two-year course at the University of Alberta.
    • 1914 —Fee for examination by a Board of Examiners is $15 and an annual registration in the Alberta Pharmaceutical Association is $5.
    • 1914 —Start of the European War, later to be termed 'The Great War' (World War I—USA).
    • 1915 —Prohibition starts in Alberta - the sale and possession of alcohol is illegal, except in very specific conditions. Sales are resumed in 1924.
    • 1916 —Alberta becomes the third province in Canada to grant women the right to vote in provincial elections.
    • 1916 —A mandate decides all Association members should buy poison sale registers to better control certain medications.
    • 1917 —On Professor H.H. Gaetz's recommendations, a four-year course leading to a degree of Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy is implemented at the U of A and the age limit is raised to 15.
    • 1918 —The Spanish Influenza Pandemic kills 15 million people worldwide; in Alberta, 1 out of every 10 people dies.

  • 1920–1930

    • 1921 —Edward Mellanby "discovers" Vitamin D and finds that its absence in the body causes rickets.
    • 1921 —Johnson and Johnson's Band-Aid brand adhesive bandages hit the market.
    • 1921 —F.G. Banting and C.H. Best (both Canadians) isolate insulin, and receive a Nobel prize for their efforts.
    • 1923 —After an appeal by the students, an Accounting class is added to the pharmacy curriculum at the University of Alberta.
    • 1923 —First vaccine for Diphtheria is introduced.
    • 1926 —First vaccine for Pertussis (whooping cough) is introduced.
    • 1927 —First vaccine for Tetanus is introduced.
    • 1928 —Sir Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin.
    • 1929 —The Great Depression begins. Agricultural prices fall, the global economy weakens, stock markets crash, and there is a marked rise in unemployment.

  • 1930–1940

    • 1930's —Synthetic vitamins (A,B,C, and D) are first isolated.
    • 1930 —Pluto, the 9th planet, is discovered by astronomers. In 2006, it is demoted to "dwarf planet" status.
    • 1930 —Canadians G.H.W. Lucas and V.E. Henderson introduce a new general anesthetic, cyclopropane.
    • 1932 —Canadian Gerhard Domagk discovers azosulfamide, which provides the basis for much of today's antibiotic therapy.
    • 1932 —The first continuous voluntary prepaid medical insurance program, open to all members of the community, is established in Cardston.
    • 1935 —The first vaccine for Yellow Fever is introduced.
    • 1937 —A Pharmacy Code of Ethics is written and approved.
    • 1938 —The Alberta Pharmaceutical Association officially recommends that all hospitals over 50 beds should have a full-time pharmacist.
    • 1939 —The Second World War begins.
    • 1939 —C.P. Christensen, the head pharmacist at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, organizes the first Hospital Pharmacists Association in Canada. The association is dissolved in 1941 upon his death, but it paves the way for future organizations, such as the current Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

  • 1940–1950

    • 1943 —Willem Kolff builds the first dialysis machine.
    • 1944 —The term "intern" replaces "apprentice" in the U of A Faculty of Pharmacy.
    • 1944 —Selman Waksman discovers streptomycin, an antibiotic effective against TB and meningitis.
    • 1945 —The first vaccine for influenza is unveiled.
    • 1946 —A record enrollment of 100 students into the U of A Faculty of Pharmacy necessitates the first initiation of a quota, with preference given to Alberta residents and servicemen.
    • 1947 —Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas introduces provincial hospital insurance—the first of its kind in Canada.
    • 1947 —Leduc Oil Well #1 becomes the first drill site in Alberta—considered the unofficial start to the Alberta oil era.
    • 1948 —Philip Hench uses cortisone successfully to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
    • 1948 —Alberta sets up Medical Services Incorporated (MSI) offering medical, surgical and obstetrical services to subscribers.
    • 1948 —The World Health Organization (WHO) comes into existence. Canada's Dr. Brock Chrisholm serves as its first Director General.

  • 1950–1960

    • 1951 —Douglas J. Stewart becomes the first hospital district councilor and eighth member of the Alberta Pharmaceutical Association.
    • 1951 —The Alberta branch of CSHP is established.
    • 1955 —J.E. Salk develops the polio vaccine, effectively eradicating a disease that had previously been killing children by the thousands.
    • 1952 —Richard Doll and Bradford Hill publish the first study conclusively linking tobacco smoking and lung cancer.
    • 1957 —Canadian Pharmacists Association fees are increased to $7.00 annually.
    • 1958 —The Alberta Hospitalization Act enters the government of Alberta into a cost-sharing agreement with the government of Canada.

  • 1960–1970

    • 1960 —The first combined (progestin + estrogen) oral contraceptive is approved for market.
    • 1961 —Construction of the Berlin Wall begins, separating West and East Germany.
    • 1961 —The first edition of the Compendium of Pharmaceutical Specialties (CPS) is made available. It contains 500 pages with approximately 600 product monographs. Contrast to the 2010 edition, which has 2200 monographs, and weighs over 8lbs!
    • 1962 —The sleeping pill thalidomide is proven to have caused birth defects in babies. The oversight of this "side-effect" is called one of the "biggest medical tragedies of modern medicine."
    • 1963 —The Alberta Medical Plan passes, offering full medical services for all Albertans.
    • 1964 —Dr. Stewart Adams uses Ibuprofen as a treatment for arthritis and inflammation.
    • 1964 —Great Canadian Oilsands Ltd. (now Suncor) begins exploration of the Athabasca tar sands.
    • 1964 —Native Canadians are given the right to vote.
    • 1965 —A new Canadian Flag is adopted, portraying the current 11-pointed red maple leaf; it replaces the Royal Union (Union Jack) Flag.
    • 1965 —Sir James Black invents propranolol, used as a non-selective beta blocker, usually in the treatment of hypertension.
    • 1966 —Parliament creates a national Medicare program with Ottawa paying 50% of provincial health costs.
    • 1966 —Allopurinol is first used for the treatment of gout and arthritis.
    • 1967 —The Federal Sales Tax, or Goods and Services Tax, is removed from prescription drug purchases.
    • 1967 —The first successful heart transplant is performed; the patient lives for 18 days.
    • 1968 —Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated.
    • 1969 —Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to set foot on the moon.
    • 1969 —The Canada Health Care Insurance Act passes, introducing compulsory federal medicare to the provinces; MSI (see 1948) ceases to operate.
    • 1969 —Salbutamol becomes the first beta-2 stimulant for the treatment of asthma.

  • 1970–1980

    • 1970 —Levodopa is first used to treat Parkinson's disease.
    • 1971 —John Vane discovers the fundamental mechanism of action of Aspirin; novel properties of this compound are still being discovered today.
    • 1973 —Tamoxifen is first used to treat breast cancer.
    • 1976 —Cyclosporin is first used as an immunosuppressant to facilitate organ transplantation.
    • 1976 —Cimetidine is the first H2 antagonist used for the treatment of peptic ulcers.
    • 1978 —Louise Brown, the world's first "test-tube baby" is born in Oldham, England. In comparison, in 2008, 48,000 babies were born using IVF.

  • 1980–1990

    • 1980 —The World Health Organization (WHO) announces that small pox is eradicated.
    • 1981 —IBM sells their first personal computers for $1,565—Time Magazine names the personal computer as its "Man of the Year".
    • 1981 —The first phase of West Edmonton Mall opens; the mall eventually becomes the world's largest shopping center upon completion of subsequent phases.
    • 1985 —Human Growth Hormone is first used as a treatment for dwarfism.
    • 1986 —The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurs in Ukraine.
    • 1987 —Zidovudine is first used as a treatment for AIDS.
    • 1988 —Calgary hosts 57 countries in the 16th Winter Olympics.
    • 1988 —The Berlin Wall is torn down and East and West Germany are reunited.
    • 1989 —Simvastatin is first used to lower blood lipid levels.

  • 1990–2000

    • 1990 —Gene therapy is first used to treat adenosine deaminase deficiency (an inherited disorder that damages the immune system).
    • 1991 —1st National Pharmacy Awareness Week was held over the first full week of November.
    • 1992 —Paclitaxel is first used as a treatment for breast and ovarian cancers and leukemia.
    • 1992 —First vaccine for Hepatitis A available.
    • 1994 —The North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) is established by governments in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
    • 1995 —Interferon beta-1b (trade names Betaferon or Betaseron) is successfully used as treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
    • 1996 —Dolly the sheep becomes the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell.
    • 1997 —Alberta Wellnet is formed to develop a province-wide electronic health record.

  • 2000–2010

    • 2000 —The University of Alberta develops a procedure called the Edmonton Protocol, which transplants pancreatic islets into people with Type 1 Diabetes.
    • 2000 —Premier Ralph Klein introduces the Health Care Protection Act which defines provincial criteria for private facilities providing surgical services, with the aim of reducing wait times for suffering Albertans.
    • 2001 —Terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center result in almost 3000 casualties.
    • 2005 —Alberta celebrates its Centennial as a province.
    • 2006 —First HPV vaccine approved.
    • 2007 —Alberta pharmacists are the first in North America to be granted the authorization to prescribe.
    • 2009 —FluMist approved as the first intranasal influenza vaccine.