When Were Tampons Invented?

While Dr. Earle Haas patented the first modern tampon in 1931, tampons had been used for thousands of years prior to that by women across the globe. The Papyrus Ebers, the world's oldest printed medical document, describes the use of papyrus tampons by Egyptian women as early as the 15th century BCE.

What did they use before tampons?

Historians believe that Ancient Egyptians made tampons out of softened papyrus, while Hippocrates, Father of Medicine, wrote that Ancient Greek women used to make tampons by wrapping bits of wood with lint. Some women were also thought to use sea sponges as tampons (a practice still in use today!).

Were tampons used in the 1960s?

While tampons were actually patented in the 1930s, use did not become popular until the 1960s because people were afraid that using a tampon would cause them to lose their virginity. The menstrual cup was also invented around the same time, but did not become popular until the 1980s.