Charles Henry Phillips (1822 – 1888) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

pharmacist who is universally known for his invention ''Phillips' Milk of Magnesia''.

Early days

He moved from England to an estate at 666 Glenbrook Rd. in Glenbrook, a section of Stamford,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

and established the ''Phillips Camphor and

Wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to giv ...

Company'' in that community.

The antacid concept

It was in Stamford that he concocted and received a patent in 1873 for '' hydrate of magnesia mixed with water'' which he called '' Milk of Magnesia''.

Final days, achievements and legacy

Phillips produced milk of magnesia as well as other pharmaceuticals at his Glenbrook firm, which incorporated in 1885 as the ''Charles H. Phillips Company''. After Phillips' sudden death of apoplexy in New York on 29 October 1888,Obituaries. The New York Times, October 31, 1888; The Sun, October 31, 1888; Chicago Tribune, November 3, 1888. his four sons ran the corporation until 1923, at which time it was acquired by ''

Sterling Drug Sterling Drug was an American global pharmaceutical company, also known as Sterling Winthrop, Inc. in its last years (after the merger with Winthrop-Stearns Inc. which itself resulted from the merger of ''Winthrop Chemical Company Inc.'' and '' ...

, Inc''. ''Phillips' Milk of Magnesia'' is still manufactured today, but the last familiar blue bottle to be filled in Stamford was in 1976, when production at the Glenbrook plant was phased out. Sterling, and its ''Phillips' Milk of Magnesia'', was purchased by Bayer in 1994.

References

* 1820 births 1882 deaths English pharmacists {{UK-med-bio-stub