On this day: Several key and political incidents held on this day left an ever-lasting impact on our lives. The birth of the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, in 1996 took human research in cloning to a whole new level. Back in 1946, the world’s first bikini, introduced by Louis Réard, came into existence and remains in trend even now. Here are key events held on this day.
Birth of Dolly the Sheep in 1996
After years of research, scientists achieved significant success when Dolly the Sheep, a domestic sheep cloned using cells from another mother, was born on July 5, 1996. The research was led by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell at the Roslin Institute. While Dolly, the Sheep’s birth was a significant achievement, the animal didn’t live for long. The sheep died just a few months short of her 7th birthday.
Designer Jacques Heim, who ran a beach shop in the resort town and now popular film festival destination, Cannes created a two-piece garb in 1946 that he aptly called ‘Atome’ a la atom. Around that time, Louis Réard, a French engineer who also looked after his mother’s lingerie store crafted a swimsuit that exposed the navel for the very first time and gave birth to the string bikini. His inspiration being the women who lolled about on the St Tropez beaches, rolling up their swimsuits for better tanning results. He called this design of his – the bikini – and unveiled it on July 5, 1946, a mere five days after the first testing of a nuclear device was held in Bikini Atoll, expecting an ‘explosive commercial and cultural reaction’. Needless to say, the reaction was more than an explosion. By the way, did you these things about the bikini? (Text: Shruti Tomar)
