When was penicillin first used successfully to treat a patient?

The first successful therapeutic use of penicillin occurred in 1941 at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. A team led by Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain treated police constable Albert Alexander, who had a severe infection after a scratched face became infected. He improved rapidly after receiving the drug, although the small amount available ran out and he later died. This early case helped prove that penicillin could be a powerful antibiotic and led to mass production during World War II.