Hermann Emil Fischer
In 1902, Hermann Emil Fischer (1852–1919) and Joseph von Mering (1849–1908) discovered that diethylbarbituric acid was an effective hypnotic agent. Also called barbital or "Veronal" (the trade name assigned to it by Bayer Pharmaceuticals), this new drug became the first commercially marketed barbiturate; it was used as a treatment for insomnia from 1903 until the mid-1950s.