Skip to main content

The timeline can be navigated by dragging the pointer on the timeline bar, located at the bottom of the screen on the desktop version and on the left of the screen on mobile. To filter by a specific topic, make a selection on the dropdown “Filters” menu or click “Search” to do a keyword search. To learn more, click “Read More” below.

Read More
A small cardboard box and glass jar containing white powder labelled penicillin.
Early penicilin packaging. (Photo: Rajitha Ranasinghe, Nobel Museum).

Alexander Fleming encounters penicillin.

1928

PHA
HISS
Early penicilin packaging. (Photo: Rajitha Ranasinghe, Nobel Museum).

Alexander Fleming identifies penicillin at St. Mary's Hospital, London. This discovery will lead to the introduction of antibiotics and a huge reduction in the number of deaths from infection.

By 1941, researchers at Oxford will have determined penicillin's success rate in stopping bacterial infection. The large-scale development of penicillin will be undertaken in the U.S. during World War II.