B H This Day in Black History

October 4

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October 4, 1951

Henrietta Lacks Dies

On October 4, 1951, Henrietta Lacks passed away at Johns Hopkins. Her HeLa cells were taken without her knowledge and became crucial to developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more — raising profound questions about medical ethics and racial justice.

Sources
1. Henrietta Lacks - PBS LearningMedia2. Henrietta Lacks: The Woman Behind the HeLa Cells - Smithsonian Magazine3. Henrietta Lacks - The National Women's History Museum4. Henrietta Lacks - National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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