Intravenous (IV) anesthetics were first discovered for their clinical utility in 1656 by Sir Christopher Wren, an architect, physicist, and astronomer at the University of Oxford while using a goosequill to inject opium into a dog to produce sleep [1]. In 1909, Ludwig Burkhardt became the first surgeon to deliberately use IV ether in a 5% solution to sedate patients for head and neck surgery, finding that a higher concentration caused thrombophlebitis and hemolysis, whereas a lower concentration proved too weak a sedative. The first barbiturate hexobarbital was used in 1932, soon being used for over 10 million cases by 1944. In 1989, the first propofol lipid emulsion formulation was launched in the United States, marking the beginning of the modern age of IV sedation pharmacology [2].