The childhood nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" is familiar to all, but did you know it’s based on a real Mary and a real lamb and a real incident that took place at school?

The real Mary, Mary Sawyer, was born in 1806 in the town of Sterling, Massachusetts, the United States. One day, when Mary was about ten, she discovered two recently born lambs on their family farm. One was abandoned by the mother and was nearly dead from cold and neglect. Mary asked her father if she could adopt it as a pet, and although her father was reluctant at first because he feared the lamb would die and Mary would be sad, she was able to coax her father into submission.

A statue of Mary's little lamb in Sterling, Massachusetts. Photo credit: Luke Walker/Flickr