Thalidomide was distributed in more than 46 countries worldwide. It was developed in Germany and they did testing in 1953-54. To the best of my knowledge, the drug became available in 1957—which is the year I was born, just FYI, so I'm in the same generation. It came to Canada in 1959, but it was variable in Europe and other countries in the late fifties and early sixties.
On May 9th, 2017. See this statement in context.