It seems like a good time to reflect on the groundbreaking change to the pharmaceutical industry that Viagra represented, as March 27th marked the 20th anniversary of when it was introduced to the public. But the story of this “little blue pill” created to treat men with erectile dysfunction began a lot longer ago with that, and the story is utterly bizarre.

According to multiple retrospectives written abotu the suspect, the most extraordinary even thappened back at a urological conference in 1983. It was there that a physician described a new medication that could cause a limp member to become erect with an injection, and so that is exactly what he did: dropping his pants, and doing it right in front of the shocked medical experts in the room. As urologists who were there at the time described it, there was complete shock and silence as one could imagine.

But it would nto be for another 16 years until it became approved for the market. March 27, 1998, was certainly a crazy date to introduce it, and added another bizarre chapter to this drug. After all, that was when Bill Clinton was embroiled in a sex scandal with intern Monica Lewinsky while serving as president of the United States. And later on, Clinton’s opponent in the 1996 presidential election, Bob Dole, served as Viagra’s pitch man.

Since the craziness of the 1990s, Viagra has settled into the national consciousness as the go-to drug for men struggling with issues “down there.” It no longer has quite the taboo that it used to have, and it remains one of the most successful drugs ever made. They even call it “the little blue pill,” it’s so iconic.