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The Very First Condom
Q: Dear KingLove:
Who invented the condom? I've just got to know. Andy, Schenecksville, PA
A: You're an unusual man. And you're giving KingLove a research project. Fortunately we'd happened to hear this once before, and figured it was strange enough to share. You didn't mean the first person to carry one in their wallet, did you?
"The first to invent" is a tag which may always be debated. Some people insist that the precursor of the more modern condom was originated in ancient Egypt. However, there are two people in more modern times that most often get the credit. Both have names you'll recognize.
In the sixteenth century, an Italian anatomist named Gabriel Fallopius designed a medicated sheath to go over the tip of the penis and under the foreskin. It was supposedly held on by a pink ribbon so that it would appeal to women. Fallopius discovered the famous tubes which will forever bear his name.
Several decades later, in the seventeenth century, England's King Charles II requested his personal physician to devise something to protect him from syphilis. The King can be insightful. The King's personal physician's name was (believe it or not) The Earl of Condom. The Earl of Condom (yes, it's fun to say) invented an oiled sheath made from sheep intestine. It's unclear if he knew about the Fallopius invention, but Condom's condoms became very popular amongst the nobility.
Go forth and be safe!
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