This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

In 1960, a new wonder drug hit the US market.

And while a lot of new drugs promised dramatic results,

this one would actually transform millions of lives and

radically shift American culture. It was called a navid. It was the first oral

contraceptive.

Drugs for many seem the answer to all the problems.

When a government agency approves the first birth control pill

in 1960, it helps set in motion forces that will soon change the social mores of the world.

In just two years, 1.2 million American women were taking the birth control pill.

That's reporter Lila Turnif.

Within five years, the pill would become

the most popular form of birth control in the country.

It let women choose if and when they wanted to have children.

It gave them more freedom to pursue careers,

and it helped usher in the free love era of the late 1960s.

It was a big deal.

And even if you've never taken the pill, you can probably picture its packaging.

There's the round plastic package that opens like a shell and looks kind of like a makeup compact.

There's also the more low-key rectangular pill sheets with each pill

arranged in four neat rows for every day of the month. It's hard to think of other prescription

drug packages that are as widely recognizable as those of the birth control pill.

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