Pharmacy began as an ancient practice when juice would be expressed from a succulent leaf and applied to a wound. According to Greek legend, Asclepius, who was the god of healing, gave Hygieia the job of compounding his remedies. Hygieia was his apothecary, an old name for a pharmacist. The first pharmacies were established in Baghdad in 754 under Abbasid Caliphate at the time of the Islamic Golden Age but by the 9th century pharmacies became state regulated.
It was by the mid-16th century that apothecaries in England had become the equivalent of the pharmacists that we know today and would dispense medicines. Some would have formal training in medicines at college, while others would learn as apprentices.
In 1841, the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was founded. The Pharmacy Act of 1868 would limit the sale of dangerous drugs and poisons to only qualified pharmacists or druggists.
In 1946, the US saw the first pharmacy that mailed prescription drugs to the homes of patients.
In 1981, the first supermarket pharmacy would be opened.
Pharmacist shops would spread all around the world to make medication more easily accessible. Then came along online pharmacy shops to armchair purchase medicines and a range of other medical-related products.
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