When was penicillin discovered?

Penicillin was discovered in September 1928 by Alexander Fleming, a professor of bacteriology, however, it was only introduced on a large scale during the Second World War.

What did penicillin cure in WWII?

Penicillin can cure a wide range of bacterial infections. In WWI, nearly 20% of the wounded died due to bacterial infections; thanks to penicillin, this rate dropped to less than 1% in WWII.

Audio: Discovery of Penicillin

Audio Version

Article:	Discovery of Penicillin
Author:	John Horgan
Narrator:	Lianne Walker

Remove Ads

Follow Our Podcast

Subscribe to this author

About the Narrator

Lianne Walker

Lianne is a Scottish Audio Storyteller from Edinburgh working in audiobooks, podcasting, and long-form narration. A self-confessed history and science nerd, Lianne has an insatiable curiosity and loves giving voice to stories where truth and story combine

Subscribe to this author

About the Author

John Horgan

Currently an Assistant Professor of History at Concordia University-Wisconsin in the United States. His on-going reading and research interests include plagues & diseases and food in world history .

Free for the World, Supported by You

World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide.

World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. Please support free history education for millions of learners worldwide for only $5 per month by becoming a member. Thank you!

Become a Member Donate

All

Definitions57

Articles42

Definition

License & Copyright

Uploaded by John Horgan, published on 20 June 2024. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.

Discovery of Penicillin

Audio Version

Follow Our Podcast

About the Narrator

About the Author

Free for the World, Supported by You

Related Articles

Alexander the Great

The Life and Death of Sweet Medicine

Alexander the Great: A Case Study in Martial Leadership

A Brief History of Veterinary Medicine

License & Copyright