Not so much an invention as a discovery, the properties of the penicillin fungus are a major part of medicine today and have saved countless lives thanks to the experiments of Alexander Fleming.

“Penicillin is, I would argue, the single most important medication that's ever been introduced,” said Robert Gaynes, an infectious disease physician and medical historian at Emory University. “It ...

Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin by accident in 1928. He noticed that mold had contaminated his petri dishes and killed surrounding bacteria. John Pemberton originally created Coca-Cola as ...