[1] Dial emerged as a result of a collaborative effort by a team of accomplished chemists that worked at Armour and Company, with Emmett Patrick Glynn as a key contributor.

[5] Dial was introduced nationally in 1949 and was advertised as "the first active, really effective deodorant soap in all history [because it] removes skin bacteria that cause perspiration odor".

[3] Hexachlorophene, the active ingredient in Dial, was removed from the consumer market and strictly limited in the hospital setting in the early 1970s amid reports that it caused neurological damage in infants.

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) outlawed its use in non-medicinal products, Armour-Dial replaced it with triclocarban, a synthetic antibacterial compound.

[4][better source needed] In September 2016, the FDA ruled that antibacterial soaps containing triclocarban and triclosan can no longer be marketed.