Go to: May 9, 1960: The 'Pill' is born On May 6, 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the birth control pill for marketing. "The Pill," as it soon became known, gave women a relatively simple, if revolutionary, way to regulate some of their natural cycles. Studies showed it to be 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy when taken correctly. Its approval, and subsequent widespread use, coincided with a surge in the women's rights movement, as more women left their traditional roles as homemakers to attended colleges and pursue careers. The Pill debuted a few years before the so-called Sexual Revolution, a period of "free love" and independence among America's youth. Forty years later, some 100 million took the tablet worldwide, according to the journal Population Reports.