Tech & Science · 1928
Miracles of Medicine, Sound, and the Skies
In 1928, humanity unlocked transformative secrets of nature and engineering. From accidental medical breakthroughs in moldy Petri dishes to miraculous cross-ocean flights and synchronized talking cartoons, the world bounded eagerly into a bold new technological era.
- September 3, 1928 | Scotland
Alexander Fleming Discovers Penicillin
Bacteriologist Alexander Fleming returns to his London lab to discover that a stray mold has miraculously destroyed a colony of lethal Staphylococcus bacteria.
- February 28, 1928 | India
The Discovery of the Raman Effect
Physicist C.V. Raman demonstrates that light changes wavelength when scattered by liquids, revealing fundamental truths about molecular structure.
- July 7, 1928 | United States
First Successful Commercial Sliced Bread
Otto Frederick Rohwedder's revolutionary automated bread-slicing machine debuts at a Missouri bakery, instantly changing daily life.
- October 21, 1928 | United States
Invention of the Iron Lung Respirator
Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw test the first mechanical iron lung on a polio patient at Boston Children's Hospital, saving her life.
- February 8, 1928 | United Kingdom
First Transatlantic Television Transmission
Scottish engineer John Logie Baird successfully broadcasts a mechanical television signal across the Atlantic Ocean from London to New York.
- May 31 – June 9, 1928 | Aviation
Kingsford Smith's Transpacific Flight
Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew complete the grueling first-ever flight across the Pacific Ocean, flying from California to Australia.
- 1928 | Germany
Development of the Geiger-Müller Counter
Hans Geiger and Walther Müller perfect an electronic instrument capable of detecting individual particles of ionizing radiation.
- November 18, 1928 | Animation
Debut of Synchronized Sound in Animation
Walt Disney premieres Steamboat Willie, captivating audiences with the first fully synchronized sound cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse.
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