The Pennsylvania Hospital, the first in America, opened in Philadelphia through the indefatigible efforts of Benjamin Franklin, who was involved in drafting the petition for its establishment and fund-raising. It was established on 11 May 1751, when the colonial governor of Pennsylvania approved its charter as a proposed hospital to include treatment of people with mental illness. The first patient was received on 11 Feb 1752, at the hospital's temporary quarters in the Judge Kinsey mansion on Market St. The Pine Street Hospital opened 17 Dec 1756, and accepted both mentally ill and general medical patients. Inmates were provided with light manual labor such as spinning and carding wool for recreational therapy activities.

The rBGH genetically engineered growth hormone for cows goes on sale to dairy farmers under the name Posilac, made by Monsanto Company. Also known as "Bovine Somatotropin" or BST, it is a genetically engineered copy of a naturally occurring hormone produced in the pituitary gland of cattle and is a major regulator of milk production. This is the first time altered genes have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for injection into live animals. The purpose is to improve a cow's production of milk as much as 5 to 15 pounds per day per cow. The approval process took nine years. Nevertheless, the rBGH has drawn criticism from people concerned about food purity.