Tylenol was first introduced in 1955 by McNeil Laboratories as a liquid formulation called Tylenol Elixir for children. It was initially marketed as a prescription product and packaged in a cartoon fire engine design with the slogan "for little hotheads." The brand name "Tylenol" was derived from the chemical name of its active ingredient acetaminophen (N-acetyl-para- aminophenol, APAP). Johnson & Johnson acquired McNeil Laboratories in 1959, and shortly thereafter Tylenol became available over the counter without a prescription.
Acetaminophen itself was first synthesized in 1878 and gained interest as a safer alternative to aspirin by the late 1940s, leading to Tylenol's launch in 1955.
