September 28 Birthday
On September 28, 1928, Alexander Fleming returned from vacation to his laboratory at St. Mary's Hospital in London and noticed that a petri dish of staphylococcus bacteria had been contaminated by mold. The mold had killed the bacteria in a ring around it. Fleming identified the mold as Penicillium notatum and named the active substance penicillin. He published his findings in 1929, but did not develop it into a drug. That was done by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain at Oxford, who produced penicillin in usable quantities by 1941. Penicillin has saved an estimated 200 million lives. Fleming, Florey, and Chain shared the Nobel Prize in 1945. In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, set sail for England, claiming the throne that had been promised to him by Edward the Confessor. His fleet was delayed by winds for weeks. He landed at Pevensey on September 28, defeated Harold at Hastings on October 14, and was crowned on Christmas Day. The Norman Conquest transformed England — the language, the law, the architecture, and the political system were all reshaped. People born on September 28 fall under the zodiac sign of Libra. The birthstone is Sapphire and the birth flower is Aster. Historical events on September 28 include 1066: William the Conqueror sets sail for England, beginning Norman invasion, 1928: Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin, 1978: Pope John Paul I dies after only 33 days as pope. Famous people born on September 28 include Confucius (551 BCE), Ed Sullivan (1901), Brigitte Bardot (1934).