... was invented in 1809 by the Irish physician James Murray, who used it in 1829 to treat the Marquess of Anglesey for stomach pain. This was so successful that Murray was appointed resident physician to the Marquess, and to his successors as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, which earned him a knighthood.
The term milk of magnesia was first used in 1872 (the year after Murray's death), by the English pharmacist Charles Henry Phillips, for a suspension of magnesium hydroxide. It was sold under the brand name Phillips' Milk of Magnesia for medicinal usage.
Magnesium hydroxide is known today as E528.
As a senior officer in the British army, the Marquess of Anglesey led the spectacular heavy cavalry charge against the Comte d'Erlon's column at the Battle of Waterloo, which effectively checked and in part routed the French Army. At the end of the battle he lost part of one leg to a cannonball, at which point he famously remarked to the Duke of Wellington: "By God sir, I've lost my leg!" – to which Wellington replied, "By God sir, so you have!"
© Macclesfield Quiz League 2019