First Local anesthetic to be used for spinal block:

Cocaine was the first local anesthetic to be used for regional anaesthesia. In 1884, Austrian ophthalmologist Karl Koller (1857-1944) instilled a 2% solution of cocaine into his own eye and tested its effectiveness as a local anesthetic by pricking the eye with needles. His findings were presented a few weeks later at annual conference of the Heidelberg Ophthalmological Society. The following year, William Halsted (1852-1922) performed the first brachial plexus block. Also in 1885, James Leonard Corning (1855-1923) injected cocaine between the spinous processes of the lower lumbar veebrae, first in a dog and then in a healthy man. His experiments are the first published descriptions of the principle of neuraxial blockade. On August 16, 1898, German surgeon August Bier (1861-1949) performed surgery under spinal anesthesia in Kiel. Following the publication of Bier's experiments in 1899, a controversy developed about whether Bier or Corning performed the first successful spinal anesthetic.