🇺🇸This Week In History - The US Marines Take Iwo Jima

Welcome back History Nerds,

We hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day with that special someone. Let’s all take this time to settle into the week. Grab a nice cup of coffee, maybe some breakfast depending on the time of day, and let us tell you about the Battle of Iwo Jima starting WWII and how Dolly the cloned sheep came to be. But before we get into it…

Did You Know? On February 18, 1930, Clyde Tombaugh, a 24-year-old with no formal training, discovered Pluto using a 13-inch telescope in Arizona. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t even an astronomer!

During Your History Lesson You’ll Learn About:

• The First Successful Cloning of Dolly the Sheep

• The US Marines Take Iwo Jima

• The Day Malcolm X Was Silenced

• The Day Dahmer Was Sentenced To Life

Baa-ck to the Future: The Tale of Dolly the Cloned Sheep

On July 5, 1996, at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, Dolly the Sheep was born, marking the world's first successful cloning of a mammal from an adult cell. Named after Dolly Parton due to the use of a mammary gland cell from a Finn Dorset ewe, her creation was kept secret until February 22, 1997. The 1990s were a time of great strides in genetics, with Dolly's cloning pushing the boundaries of what was scientifically possible, yet it also raised a bunch of ethical, moral, and scientific questions.

The technique to create Dolly involved somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), where the nucleus of an adult cell was inserted into an egg cell with its nucleus removed, followed by an electric shock to stimulate cell division. Out of 277 attempts, Dolly was the only successful clone. The secrecy around Dolly's creation was due to the potential backlash from revealing such a breakthrough, with concerns about the ethics of cloning, especially the possibility of human cloning, looming large.

When Dolly was finally announced, the scientific community highlighted potential benefits like producing medical proteins in sheep's milk or aiding in species conservation. However, the conversation quickly expanded to include the ethics, legality, and implications of cloning technology. Dolly lived until 2003, which is around half the normal life-span of a sheep, when she was euthanized due to lung disease, leaving behind a legacy that extended beyond science into ethical debates about the manipulation of life at its most fundamental level. Click here and watch more, you be the judge, do you think cloning is ethical?

The US Marines Take Iwo Jima

On February 19, 1945, U.S. Marines stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima, kicking off one of the most intense battles of World War II. The island was small—only eight square miles—but it was a fortress of tunnels, bunkers, and hidden artillery manned by 21,000 dug-in Japanese soldiers who had zero plans of surrendering. The Marines expected a brutal fight, but they were in for something even worse. The Japanese didn’t meet them on the beach—instead, they waited until the Americans were fully ashore, then unleashed a firestorm of bullets, mortars, and artillery. It was a meat grinder from day one, and the battle dragged on for five grueling weeks.

The Japanese fought from underground tunnels, popping up, attacking, and vanishing like ghosts. The Marines inched forward, yard by yard, fighting for every inch of volcanic rock. The most famous moment came on February 23, 1945, when a group of Marines raised the American flag atop Mount Suribachi—a moment captured in one of the most iconic war photos ever taken (Watch Video). What people don’t realize is that was actually the first flag raised that day. A second, larger flag was put up later for the cameras. But hey, if you’re going to take a picture for history, might as well go big.

By the time the battle ended in March 1945, nearly 7,000 Marines were dead, with another 20,000 wounded. The Japanese? Almost all 21,000 were killed, many choosing death over surrender. The island was finally under U.S. control, but at a staggering cost. In the end, Iwo Jima became a symbol of unbreakable courage, brutal sacrifice, and the insane lengths both sides would go to for victory.

Trivia Time

In every issue of LOL History, we take a break from sharing historical events to bring you a quirky trivia section.

The Day Malcolm X Was Silenced

On February 21, 1965, at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, New York, the voice of one of America's most fiery and influential civil rights leaders was abruptly silenced. Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little, was addressing the Organization of Afro-American Unity—a group he founded to fight for the rights of Black Americans—when chaos erupted. Gunshots rang out, and Malcolm X fell, struck by assassins' bullets in front of his wife, Betty Shabazz, and their young daughters.

The assassination of Malcolm X was a dark turning point in the civil rights movement, ending the life of a man who had transformed from a street hustler to a profound advocate for Black self-reliance and empowerment. His transition from the Nation of Islam to a broader, more inclusive fight for civil rights had made him a figure of both admiration and contention. With his autobiography, written with Alex Haley, already making waves, his death abruptly ended what could have been an even more impactful journey in the quest for racial justice.

His death sent shockwaves through the civil rights community and beyond, sparking numerous theories about who was behind the assassination. While three members of the Nation of Islam were convicted, questions about the involvement of various government agencies and other factions persisted. Malcolm X left behind a legacy of unapologetic truth, bravery, and a clarion call for Black pride and autonomy. His words echo to this day, underscoring the continuous battle for justice and equality, even as his life was cut short in Harlem.

Jeffrey Dahmer’s Life Sentence Didn’t Last Long

On February 17, 1992, Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms for a series of gruesome murders that horrified the nation. Between 1978 and 1991, Dahmer killed 17 men and boys, committing crimes so disturbing that even seasoned detectives were shaken. He wasn’t just a murderer—he was a cannibal and a necrophile. Despite pleading guilty, Dahmer tried to convince the court he was insane. The judge, along with everyone else, wasn’t buying it and sent him to prison for life (Watch Video).

But as it turns out, “the rest of his life” didn’t last long. In 1994, just two years into his sentence at Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin, Dahmer was beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver. Scarver, also serving time for murder, reportedly had enough of Dahmer’s creepy attitude. Apparently, Dahmer liked shaping his food into body parts and making jokes about his crimes, which—shockingly—didn’t sit well with the other prisoners. So, while doing janitorial work, Scarver grabbed a metal bar and killed Dahmer in the prison bathroom.

And just like that, one of the most terrifying serial killers in history was erased in minutes. No drawn-out appeals, no final statements—just cold, brutal justice in a prison bathroom (not the way it usually goes down in prison bathrooms). Some saw it as karma, others as Scarver doing what the system couldn’t. Either way, Dahmer spent years taking lives, but in the end, he couldn’t protect his own.

Links To More Interesting Content! 

• The Man Who Survived Two Atomic Bombs (Read More)

• The Exploding Pants Epidemic (Read More)

• The Eiffel Tower Con Artist (Learn More)

We hope that you enjoyed this edition of the LOL History newsletter! See you next week!

— Evan & Derek - LOL History Co-Founders