April 19th marks a lesser-known but deeply significant date in counterculture history: Bicycle Day. It commemorates the day in 1943 when Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann intentionally ingested a small amount of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) and experienced its profound effects while riding his bicycle home from his lab. Though he had first synthesized LSD in 1938, it wasn’t until this accidental self-experiment that Hofmann—and the world—discovered the powerful psychedelic effects of the compound.
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