The year 1928 produced a remarkable cluster of inventions, from a life-saving antibiotic to the first commercially sliced bread. Several of these breakthroughs went on to reshape medicine, entertainment, and everyday life in ways their creators never anticipated.
Penicillin: The Accidental Antibiotic
On September 28, 1928, Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming returned to his laboratory after a vacation and noticed something strange. A mold had contaminated one of his petri dishes, and the bacteria surrounding the mold colonies were dying, with the surrounding gel dissolving and clearing away. Fleming isolated the mold, identified it as a member of the Penicillium genus, and recognized its bacteria-killing potential.
Fleming himself later reflected on the moment: “When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn’t plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world’s first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I suppose that was exactly what I did.” It took more than a decade for other scientists to turn his observation into a usable drug, but penicillin eventually became the foundation of modern antibiotics and saved countless millions of lives.
Sliced Bread
The phrase “the best thing since sliced bread” exists because pre-sliced bread didn’t arrive until 1928. Otto Frederick Rohwedder, a jeweler-turned-inventor, designed and manufactured the first commercial bread-slicing machine that year. His first automatic slicer went into service at Bench’s Bakery in Chillicothe, Missouri, though it fell apart after about six months of heavy use. A second, more durable machine was then installed at Korn’s Bakery in Rohwedder’s hometown of Davenport, Iowa, in late 1928. Before Rohwedder’s machine, bakeries sold only whole loaves, and customers sliced bread at home with varying degrees of success.
The Iron Lung
Polio was one of the most feared diseases of the early 20th century, partly because it could paralyze the muscles responsible for breathing. In 1928, Harvard Medical School faculty members Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw developed the iron lung, which made its clinical debut at Boston Children’s Hospital that same year. The device worked like a vacuum: a motor created and released pressure around the patient’s body, forcing air in and out of the lungs while the patient’s head rested outside the machine, sealed off by an airtight collar. The iron lung went on to save thousands of lives during polio outbreaks over the following decades.
Bubble Gum
The world’s first successful bubble gum was invented in 1928 by Walter E. Diemer, an accountant at the Fleer Company in Philadelphia. Diemer wasn’t a chemist or a food scientist. He stumbled onto the right formula while experimenting with gum recipes and found a mixture that was stretchy enough to blow bubbles without sticking to the face. The product was branded Dubble Bubble, and its iconic pink color wasn’t a deliberate design choice. The factory simply had only pink food coloring available at the time.
The Geiger-Müller Counter
Radiation detection took a major leap forward in July 1928 with the introduction of the Geiger-Müller counter. Hans Geiger had built an earlier version of a radiation-detecting tube years before, but working with physicist Walther Müller, he dramatically improved the device’s sensitivity, performance, and durability. The upgraded counter could detect individual particles of radiation with an audible click, making it practical for laboratory research and, eventually, for field use in mining, medicine, and nuclear safety. Its introduction marked the beginning of modern electrical devices in radiation research.
Magnetic Recording Tape
German engineer Fritz Pfleumer patented magnetic recording tape in 1928, laying the groundwork for decades of audio and data storage. Pfleumer cut thin paper into 16mm-wide strips and coated them with fine grains of iron powder held in place by a lacquer adhesive. He also patented a playback device he called the “sound paper machine.” His approach eventually evolved into the reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes, and VHS tapes that dominated the 20th century before digital storage took over.
The Quartz Clock
In the late 1920s, Canadian engineer Warren Marrison, working at Bell Telephone Laboratories, developed a clock that kept time using the natural vibrations of a quartz crystal. The cut of the crystal determines how many times per second it vibrates, and that consistent frequency became the clock’s timekeeping mechanism. Quartz clocks were far more accurate than any mechanical timekeeper that existed at the time, gaining or losing only about one second every three years. For comparison, the best pendulum clocks of the era drifted by roughly ten seconds per year. Quartz timekeeping technology eventually made its way into wristwatches, computers, and nearly every electronic device that tracks time today.
Vitamin C Isolation
Hungarian biochemist Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated a substance from adrenal glands in 1928 that he initially called “hexuronic acid.” It turned out to be vitamin C. His work helped explain why certain foods prevented scurvy, a disease that had plagued sailors and malnourished populations for centuries, and eventually earned him a Nobel Prize in 1937.
Steamboat Willie
While not a physical invention in the traditional sense, Walt Disney’s “Steamboat Willie” premiered in 1928 as one of the first animated films with fully synchronized sound throughout. The technical challenge was enormous: matching audio precisely to the movements on screen. Animator Ub Iwerks solved the synchronization problem by projecting an animated bouncing ball on the musical score and adding a matching one to the film, giving the musicians and the animation a shared rhythm. The short introduced Mickey Mouse to the world and proved that sound animation was commercially viable, transforming the entire entertainment industry.
The Electric Razor
Colonel Jacob Schick filed a patent for a dry electric shaver designed to work without lather or water. The device used a small motor connected by cable to a standard light socket, powering a reciprocating cutter that moved back and forth against a shear plate to cut hair. Though the patent wasn’t officially granted until May 1930, Schick’s work in 1928 set the stage for an entirely new category of personal grooming product that remains a household staple.