Timeline Description: Alexander Fleming is a Scottish biologist, botanist, and pharmacologist. He is responsible for discovering the enzyme Lysozyme and the antibiotic substance penicillin. He co-won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1945 based on his penicillin discovery.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| August 6, 1881 | Fleming is born. Alexander Fleming is born at Lochfield farm near Darvel in Ayrshire, Scotland. He is the third of four children born to farmer Hugh and Grace Sirling Monton. Hugh also had four children from his first marriage. |
| 1900 | Served in the military(1900-1914). Fleming served as a Private in the London Scottish Regiment. |
| 1903 | Fleming enrolls in medical school. After graduating from the Loudoun Moor School, the Darvel School, and the Kimarnock Academy, Fleming enrolls in St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in Paddington. |
| 1906 | Fleming graduates with distinction. After graduating with distinction, Fleming joins the research department at St. Mary's, where he becomes an assistant bacteriologist to Sir Almroth Wright a pioneer in vaccine therapy and immunology. |
| 1908 | Fleming earns Bachelor of Science degree. Fleming earns a Bachelor of Science degree in Bacteriology. He serves as a lecturer at St. Mary's until 1914. |
| December 23, 1915 | Fleming marries. Fleming marries Nurse Sarah Marion McElroy of Ireland. |
| 1916 | Fleming serves in World War I(1916-18). Fleming serves as Captain of the Army Medical Corps during World War I, spending most of his time in battlefield hospitals. |
| 1918 | Fleming returns to St. Mary's. After the war, Fleming returns to St. Mary's and continues his research; focusing primarily on anti-bacterial agents after witnessing so many deaths from infection during the war. |
| 1921 | Fleming discovers Lysozyme. Fleming discovers an important bacteriolytic substance he names Lysozyme. |
| 1928 | Fleming elected Professor. Fleming is elected Professor of Bacteriology at the University of London. |
| September 28, 1928 | Fleming accidentally discovers antibiotic. Fleming discovers the world's first antibiotic after mold he accidentally develops creates a bacteria-free circle around itself. |
| March 7, 1929 | Fleming names his finding "penicillin." Fleming names his finding "penicillin." Later that year, Fleming publishes his findings in the British Journal of Experimental Pathology. His findings are largely ignored. |
| 1940 | Florey and Chain continue Fleming's research. Howard Florey and Ernst Borio Chain at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford continue Fleming's research and develop a way for mass producing it. |
| 1941 | Mass production of penicillin begins. Florey and Chain begin mass producing penicillin after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. |
| 1943 | Fleming is elected Fellow of the Royal Society. Fleming is elected Fellow of the Royal Society and knighted in 1944. |
| 1945 | Fleming co-wins Nobel Prize. Along with Florey and Chain, Fleming is awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. |
| 1949 | Fleming's wife dies. Fleming's wife Sarah dies. The couple had only one son, Robert, who went on to become a General Medical Practitioner. |
| April 9, 1953 | Fleming remarries. Fleming marries Dr. Amalia Koutsouri-Vourekas, a Greek colleague. His wife dies in 1986. |
| March 11, 1955 | Fleming dies. Fleming dies of a heart attack in his London home. He is buried at St. Paul's Cathedral. |