8. Albert Hofmann
Albert Hofmann was a Swiss chemist who discovered the drug LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). However, that wasn’t his original intention. He was actually researching medical uses for derivatives of fungus when he stumbled upon the drug and eventually was credited with taking the world’s first acid trip. The first time Hofmann tripped with LSD was in 1943, when he mistakenly spilled some of the chemical on his fingertips. According to his journals, he went home and fell into a dream-like state that was less than pleasant.
Hofmann experimented with the drug again, and his second time was worse than the first, when he took a dose that he thought was small before riding his bicycle home. Hofmann stated the intense effects were mind-altering and left him fearing for his life. While his research was meant to utilize LSD in a psychiatric setting, today it is known for its recreational drug use.