Mary had a little lamb - Who knew that this simple rhyme would become such a hit? 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' was published on this date in 1830 by Sarah Josepha Hale. She was said to have based the rhyme on an actual incident: one day, a young girl named Mary Sawyer took a lamb to her school in Sterling, MA. The poem became instantly popular and Hale went on to write nearly 50 novels and books of poetry, and became the first female magazine editor, editing Godey's Lady's Book. Thomas Edison recited 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' in testing his new invention, the phonograph, in 1877.