Well, probably not the “Hello, Dolly” you are thinking of, but on this day in history the first successful mammal clone, Dolly the sheep, was born.
Originally code-named “6LL3,” the cloned lamb was named after the buxom singer and actress Dolly Parton. The name was reportedly suggested by one of the stockmen who assisted with her birth, after he learned that the animal was cloned from a mammary cell. The cells had been taken from the udder of a six-year-old ewe and cultured in a lab using microscopic needles, in a method first used in human fertility treatments in the 1970s. After producing a number of normal eggs, scientists implanted them into surrogate ewes; 148 days later one of them gave birth to Dolly.
Also of note today in history is the 1946 introduction of the bikini, the first American fatality in the Korean war in 1950, and the 1921 accusation for throwing the 1919 World Series of several Chicago White Sox members. This and more at The History Channel’s This Day in History for July 5th.
[tags]Today in History, Hello Dolly, Mammalian cloning, Dolly the clone born, The real clone wars[/tags]