Interesting Fact # 560 - Toothpaste

The world's oldest-known formula for toothpaste is one drachma of rock salt, two drachmas of mint, one drachma of dried iris flower and 20 grains of pepper, all of them crushed and mixed together.

(It was discovered on a piece of dusty papyrus in the basement of a Viennese museum and was in use more than 1,500 years before Colgate began marketing the first commercial brand in 1873. An Austrian dentist who tried it said it made his gums bleed but was a "big improvement" on some toothpaste formulae used as recently as a century ago. I've tried a variant on it and it's ok.)

* a drachma is a measure equal to one hundredth of an ounce.

interesting facts