The Clostridium botulinum bacterium (botox) was originally described back in 1820, and first grown in a laboratory in 1895 by Émile van Ermengem. He tested the botox on animals and discovered that it caused muscle paralysis. Almost 100 years later, in 1977, botox was developed as a treatment for strabismus (eye misalignment) and blepharospasm (eye twitches), gaining FDA approval in 1989. Since then, botox has gone on to be approved for many more medical conditions and aesthetic treatments.