2026-10-19
Aspirin: How an 1899 Fever Pill Scored 99 in Durability by Pulling Off the Greatest Second-Act Pivot in Product History
Ranked #26 in '100 Products That Changed the World': Aspirin (OVR 90.10: Durability 99, Scale 96, Originality 90, Impact 90, Experience 82, Business 82). Synthesized at Bayer in 1897—just eleven days before the same chemist synthesized Heroin—Aspirin lost its patents in WWI and was outflanked by Tylenol and Ibuprofen, only to reinvent itself 70 years later as the daily 81mg tablet that prevents heart attacks.
