††††Contraception was first introduced in Egypt around 2000 BC.
The first condom, for use by males, appeared around 1550, courtesy of Italian Gabriele Fallopio. It was made of part of a pig's intestines and was intended to stop the spread of syphilis. Today condoms are still a widely used contraceptive and can protect against all sorts of sexually transmitted diseases. They are now made of rubber.
The contraceptive pill contains female hormones that prevent pregnancy. The 'pill' was developed by Gregory Pincus and John Rock in the 1950s. In 1956 they conducted a large experiment of the pill on women in Puerto Rico, and soon the pill was made available to the public worldwide.
