Crocodile Dung used as birth control 1850 B.C.

Crocodile dung and condoms don't have much in common, but at one time they were both used as contraceptives. Because of the demand for controlling reproduction, people from all historical periods have actively contributed to the search for preventing or terminating pregnancies.

Crocodile dung, 1850 B.C.

The use of crocodile dung as a contraceptive dates back to 1850 B.C. from the Egyptian Kahun Medical Papyrus. These texts contain the oldest recorded information about birth control. Crocodile dung mixed with a paste-like substance was a suppository, or solid that was placed and melted in the vagina. The mixture was effective either by acting as physical barrier against sperm or by altering the pH to a level lethal to sperm. Other North African countries used elephant dung as a contraceptive.
Goat bladders and other male contraceptives

Throughout history, many people have tried to prevent pregnancies without using contraceptives. The Kama Sutra, an ancient Indian text, refers to two physical methods to avoid pregnancy: coitus reservatus and coitus obstructus. In coitus reservatus, an effort is made to refrain from ejaculating. In coitus obstructus, the base of the penis is squeezed and the semen is ejaculated into a bladder where it can be disposed.

More effective than physical restraint and most familiar today are condoms. Historical evidence of condoms can be found all over the world. Renaissance literature records the use of goat bladders, while Renaissance slaughterhouse workers used sausage skin. During the 1870s, "kabutoga" or tortorise shell condoms were used in Japan. The modern day rubber condom was invented in 1880 to prevent pregnancies and the spread of disease.