Alexander Fleming vs Jimi Hendrix
Two music prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alexander Fleming | Jimi Hendrix | |
| Field | Music | Music |
| Sub-field | Musician | Pop |
| Born | 1881 | 1942 |
| Died | 1955 | 1970 |
| Country of birth | SCT | United States |
| Star sign | Leo | Sagittarius |
Who they are
Alexander Fleming
In September 1928, a Scottish bacteriologist returned from his summer holiday to a cluttered laboratory at St Mary's Hospital in London, and noticed something unusual on a petri dish he had left behind. A mould had contaminated one of his cultures of Staphylococcus bacteria — and around the mould, the bacteria were dead. Alexander Fleming did not immediately grasp that he had just made the most important medical discovery of the twentieth century. But he was curious enough to look more carefully, and careful enough not to throw the dish away. That decision would eventually…
Full biography of Alexander Fleming →
Jimi Hendrix
The first instrument Jimi Hendrix ever played was a ukulele with a single string. He found it while helping his father clean out a house in Seattle in 1957, and he spent weeks working out the melody to "Honky Tonk Women" on that single string before his father relented and bought him a five-dollar acoustic guitar. He was fifteen years old, completely self-taught, and he could already hear in his head sounds that no existing guitarist had yet produced. Within four years, by his own account, he had listened to every blues record he could…
Full biography of Jimi Hendrix →
What they share
- Both are held here under Music.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: SCT and United States.
- 61 years separate their births (1881 and 1942).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alexander Fleming or Jimi Hendrix?
- Alexander Fleming. Alexander Fleming was born in 1881, Jimi Hendrix in 1942.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alexander Fleming is filed under Music (Musician). Jimi Hendrix is filed under Music (Pop).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.