Today in History: September 28, Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

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Today is Sunday, Sept. 28, the 271st day of 2025. There are 94 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 28, 1928, Scottish medical researcher Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, the first broadly effective antibiotic.

Also on this date:

In 1781, American forces in the Revolutionary War, backed by a French fleet, began their successful siege of Yorktown, Virginia.

In 1924, three U.S. Army planes landed in Seattle, completing the first round-the-world trip by air in 175 days.

In 1941, Ted Williams became the most recent American League baseball player to hit over .400 for a season, batting .406 for the Boston Red Sox.

In 1962, a federal appeals court found Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett in civil contempt for blocking the admission of James Meredith, a Black student, to the University of Mississippi.

In 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat signed an accord at the White House calling for an end to Israel’s military occupation of West Bank cities and expanding the responsibilities of the Palestinian Authority.

In 2016, Hurricane Matthew forms near the Windward Islands and goes on to kill over 1,000 people in Haiti, elsewhere in the Caribbean and the southeastern U.S.

In 2000, capping a 12-year battle, the U.S. government approved use of the abortion pill RU-486.

In 2020, the worldwide death toll from the coronavirus pandemic reached 1 million, according to a count by Johns Hopkins University.

In 2022, Category 4 Hurricane Ian barreled ashore in southwestern Florida and then bisected the center of the state, causing more than 100 fatalities and billions of dollars in damage.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Brigitte Bardot is 91. Filmmaker John Sayles is 75. Football Hall of Famer Steve Largent is 71. Zydeco musician C.J. Chenier (sheh-NEER’) is 68. Hockey Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr is 63. Actor-comedian Janeane Garofalo (juh-NEEN’ guh-RAH’-fuh-loh) is 61. Actor Maria Canals-Barrera is 59. Actor Mira Sorvino is 58. Actor Naomi Watts is 57. Olympic gold medal swimmer Lenny Krayzelburg is 50. Rapper Jeezy is 48. Golf Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak is 48. Pop-rock musician St. Vincent is 43. Actor Hilary Duff is 38. Boxer Terence “Bud” Crawford is 38. Tennis player Marin Čilić is 37. Actor Keir Gilchrist is 33.