Today in History

On July 5, 1996, Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell by scientists at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, was born.

On this date

1687: Isaac Newton first published his Principia Mathematica, a three-volume work setting out his mathematical principles of natural philosophy.

1811: Venezuela became the first South American country to declare independence from Spain.

1935: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act.

1937: Hormel introduced a canned meat product called Spam; more than 9 billion cans have been sold since.

1947: Larry Doby made his debut with the Cleveland Indians, becoming the first Black player in the American League three months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in the National League.

1971: President Richard Nixon certified the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which lowered the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.

1975: Arthur Ashe became the first Black man to win a Wimbledon singles title, defeating Jimmy Connors.

1980: Bjorn Borg became the first male player to win five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles.

1994: Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos as an online marketplace for books.

Today’s birthdays

Julie Nixon Eisenhower is 77. Rock star Huey Lewis is 75. Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rich “Goose” Gossage is 74. Cartoonist Bill Watterson is 67. Author Gary Shteyngart is 53. Country musician Dave Haywood (Lady A) is 43. Retired soccer player Megan Rapinoe is 40.