In 1928, a Scottish scientist named Alexander Fleming was researching a kind if bacteria called staphylococcus. He conducted experiments with the bacteria in dishes. Fleming was brilliant, but he was mess and absent-minded. when he left his laboratory to go on vacation, instead while he was gone. he could have just thrown the dishes away. fortunately , instead, he looked at them under a microscope. Fleming found that the area the mold was free of bacteria. these dirty dishes led to the to the discovery of penicillin, the first antibiotic . today, this life-saving drug is used around the world. each year there over 80 million prescriptions.