6 Little Things That Changed The Course of History - Page 6 of 8

Penicillin was discovered by an accident

Penicillin antibiotics were among the first and most important antibiotics to be effectively work against bacterial infections. However, the story of its discovery is also quite fascinating. Apparently a Scottish scientist named Alexander Fleming was experimenting with staphylococcus, but he went on a vacation lasted for two weeks. Interestingly he left staphylococcus in a Petri dish. When he returned, he witnessed one of the most astonishing event in the history of medicine. He saw that staphylococcus was contaminated with blue green mould from an open window, more importantly bacteria were unable to grow anywhere near the mould.