We all love exciting stories about pioneers and discoverers - people who were the first to do what humanity could only dream of before. However, not all discoverers are human. Among our younger brothers there are also many pioneers. Here are just a few animals that were able to leave a significant mark on history.
Dolly the Sheep
This furry animal proved to the whole world that cloning is a very real achievement of science. In 1996, Dolly was born in a completely traditional way. What was a unique breakthrough in the field of science and genetics was its “conception.” The fact is that Dolly was actually an exact genetic copy of the donor sheep, which had already died at the time of the experiment, and the cells containing the genetic material were frozen in liquid nitrogen.
The cloning technique used to create Dolly involved transplanting the nucleus of an adult somatic cell into the cytoplasm of an egg devoid of the donor's genetic material. That is, Dolly has only one “parent”. Dolly died at the age of six from a lung disease, but her birth proved the feasibility of cloning large warm-blooded mammals.
Dove Cher Ami
This homing pigeon managed to save the lives of hundreds of American soldiers during the First World War. She was one of several carrier pigeons for an infantry signal battalion that found itself cut off from the main army in 1918.
The first message sent by the soldiers who found themselves surrounded contained a set of inaccurate coordinates, and because of this oversight, not only enemy artillerymen, but also their own artillery began to shoot at them.
Two pigeons sent with precise coordinates were shot down by the Germans. The soldiers only had Sher Ami left. Dove broke through the German fire, despite being wounded several times, and managed to save the lives of the soldiers.
Chimpanzee David
Until 1960, scientists assumed that only humans were intelligent enough to create and use tools in everyday life. However, in November 1960, Jane Goodall noticed a chimpanzee named David using a long blade of grass to catch termites. After David stopped being afraid of being watched, Goodall noticed that the chimpanzee regularly used various tools to make it easier for him to get food.
Lioness Elsa
The amazing story of this lioness marked the beginning of an active social movement to protect wildlife.
In 1956, a Kenyan couple adopted a tiny lion cub, whom they named Elsa. The couple raised the lioness and taught her to hunt on her own and survive in the wild. Eventually the couple had to release the young lioness into the wild, and to everyone's surprise, she managed to survive.
In 1960, a documentary book about Elsa was published, and six years later a film was made that won the hearts of critics and viewers.
Dog Balto
In 1925, the town of Nome, located on the far western coast of Alaska, was facing a terrible diphtheria epidemic. Only a medicine developed in Seattle could save the city. Unfortunately, during a severe snowstorm, the medicine could not be delivered to the city by plane, and there were no trains to Noum. Officials developed a complex plan, according to which the serum would be transported to the city by several dog sleds. The last and most difficult part of the journey was carried out by a team led by a Siberian husky named Balto. Balto led the team in the dark, late night, through a terrible snowstorm, and he managed to deliver the serum in the morning. Thus, Balto saved the lives of many residents of the northern city. He even has a monument, not to mention a popular cartoon.
Horse Jim Key
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries in America, the show of Handsome Jim Key and his owner and trainer Dr. William Key was especially popular. All newspapers wrote about the unique horse and thousands of people in every city came running to see it. Not bad for a draft horse and a former slave, right?
William Key's humane training methods resulted in his horse "learning" to read, write, count, add, tell time, use the telephone, mail and cash register. During his entire tour of the states, several million people looked at the miracle horse.
During a time of strict segregation, when whites and blacks rarely appeared in the same places, Handsome Jim Key's show brought Americans together to get a glimpse of a unique animal.
Even President William McKinley was amazed by what he saw when he saw the performance in Tennessee. He stated that the Handsome Jim Key show was the most interesting and amazing spectacle he had ever seen.
Snowball the cat
This cat helped the police solve a murder. In 1994, the small island of Prince Edward off the coast of Canada was rocked by the brutal murder of a 32-year-old woman. Her ex-husband was suspected of the murder, since the man had a harmful character and a tendency towards domestic violence. However, the police did not have enough evidence to charge the man.
The murder remained unsolved until a bag of bloody clothes was found in the forest, on which, in addition to the blood of the murdered woman, there were also hairs of a white cat. It turned out that the ex-husband of the murdered woman had a snow-white cat named Snowball. By that time, science was already quite developed and a forensic specialist was able to extract enough DNA from the hairs and prove that it belonged to Snowball.
Thus, Snowball was the first cat whose DNA helped solve the crime.
Sheep Montosiel
The name of this sheep is translated from French as “climb to the sky” and it’s not surprising! She was the first animal balloonist in history. Long before Belka and Strelka went into space, and even before the Wright brothers made their first flight, Montociel was sent into the sky in a hot air balloon in the company of a duck and a rooster. The experts wanted to check whether the balloon could withstand a person, and were sure that if the sheep survived the flight, then a person could easily cope with it.
After the animals landed without any major injuries, except for the rooster that Montosiel kicked before taking off, the now world-famous Montgolfier brothers took off in a hot air balloon.
All people love their pets, but some animals were so loved or served people so much that they are remembered and will be remembered for many years to come.Here are the 10 most famous animals in the world.
10. A chimpanzee named Ham
He was the first animal to go into space, and luckily he had a better fate than the dog you'll see later on this list. He was one of six chimpanzees who were trained to press levers after the lights in the spacecraft flashed. It was Ham who was the only one chosen to complete the task. The journey he set out on January 31, 1961 was short, but he managed to cover 250 kilometers in 16.5 minutes. The flight was aborted due to oxygen problems, and Ham was among the people 3 hours after landing. This was not a big shock to him; he ate an apple and half an orange when he was taken out of the rocket. Ham then lived for seventeen years at the Washington National Zoo.
9. Lioness Elsa
Everyone first noticed this lioness with the publication of the book “Born Free” by naturalist Joey Adamson. While still a lion cub, Elsa was not very lucky: her mother was killed by her husband Joey when the lioness attacked him. The family took all the lion cubs, kept one for themselves, and sent the rest to the zoo. The little lioness was a pet, but Joey was determined to send her into the wild, while slowly introducing her to life in the wild. Elsa gave birth to three lion cubs, who may have fully adapted to life in the wild, but Elsa herself soon died of illness. George Adamson and his Scouts fired 20 volleys at Elsa's grave on the day of her funeral.
8. A turtle named Jonathan
Jonathan is almost 179 years old, the oldest animal on earth. It is very difficult to prove this, but there is still documentary evidence that proves it. The photo was taken during the war in 1900 on St. Helena Island, which the turtle still calls home. He was around 50 at the time, possibly even 70, making him at least 179. Jonathan enjoys life with five other turtles, although he is no longer able to see in one eye. He likes attention and is also quick enough to pay attention to the ladies.
7. Mongoose named Magu
On November 15, 1962, tea-drinking, snake-killing mongoose Magu was taken from Duluth prison and sentenced to death or deportation back to his homeland of India. The story interested the public. A foreign sailor brought a mongoose to the US National Zoo, but the zoo did not want to accept it and recommended getting rid of the animal because mongooses multiplied quickly and could destroy the local ecosystem. But after the trial, the scientists made a concession because Magu did not have a girlfriend, and they ultimately decided to leave him. Thousands of people admired Magu the following weekend, but many asked the authorities to get rid of the beast. Mr. Magoo stayed, and for the rest of his days he drank tea, ate eggs and walked around the zoo. He died in 1968.
6. Phil the Groundhog of Punxsutawney
The world's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, has been predicting the weather since February 1886. Incredibly, some people believe he is the same groundhog. But let's look at the situation soberly, these animals have a life expectancy of 10 years, he would need the elixir of longevity to continue living all this time. However, a secret group called the Inner Circle watches over him, and they wear hats and tails at the weather forecasting ceremony. The tradition of predicting the weather in this way came to the United States from Germany, where it was believed that if the sun rises on February 2 and a hedgehog sees its shadow, then one should wait for another six weeks of winter.
5. Sam the Cat
Unsinkable Sam is a cat who managed to survive three shipwrecks during World War II. The first of these occurred when Sam (later named Oscar) was on the Bismarck, which was sunk on May 27, 1941. About 2,000 crew members died while Sam escaped. He was the only survivor picked up by the British ship Kossack after the battle and was therefore named Oscar. That same year, Kossak was attacked by a German torpedo. The explosion killed 159 people, but Oscar survived and washed ashore in Gibraltar. Since then, Unsinkable Sam (fortunately, cats are not particularly worried about their names) went to live on the ship that originally fought with Bismarck. It was also hit by a torpedo; all crew members, except one, survived. Sam was found angry but healthy, floating on a board in the sea. Fortunately, Sam stayed away from ships from then on, and he died in a sailor's home in Belfast in 1955.
4. Dove Sher-ami
The US Army Signal Corps has a lot to thank their pet pigeon, Cher Ami, for during World War II. Ami was one of 6,000 pigeons that British breeders sent to the military to be trained as homing pigeons. Ami flew 12 important missions over several months in 1918, and he last flew on the afternoon of October 4, 1918, during the Battle of the Argonne. The troops were firing at their own, and Major Whittlesey sent Cher Ami with a note to stop it. While severely wounded in the chest and blind in one eye, with one leg dangling, the bird was able to deliver a note and save the lives of more than 200 soldiers. After this important mission, the pigeon was cured and given a wooden prosthesis, but died less than a year later.
3. Horse Morocco
The Dancing Horse of Morocco was so famous in the United Kingdom in 1591 that Shakespeare immortalized it in Love's Labour's Lost, where he referred to it as the Dancing Horse. His abilities were wide and varied: he could count coins with his hoof, dance on four or two legs, and bow to the queen when necessary. It was also believed that he could think, because. he moved his hooves in response to some questions. It was for this that the horse and his owner almost paid with their lives, because... they were accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death. However, when the horse bowed to the ground to the judge, asking for himself and his master, they were pardoned. Very little is known about their life after this incident, but according to rumors, the owner and his horse lived comfortably on all the savings that they managed to earn in better times.
2. Jumbo the Elephant
The first Jumbo was 4 meters tall and weighed 6 tons. He was born in Africa in 1861, and the name "Jumbo" means "chief" in Swahili. Jumbo traveled from French Sudan to the Jardin des Plantes Zoo, and when he was 4 years old, he moved to London Zoo. Because As he became increasingly irritable and difficult to control, he was sold to American businessman and showman Barnum for $10,000, which stunned the British. Queen Victoria received more than 100,000 letters asking her to intervene in the deal. The elephant seemed to be doing better at Barnum's circus. However, three years later the elephant died during a train accident on which it was being transported.
1. Dog Laika
A young dog named Laika, who was found on a Moscow street, was destined to become the first dog in space. Unfortunately, Sputnik 2, which launched Laika into orbit, was prepared in a hurry due to the fact that Nikita Khrushchev wanted to combine the launch of the rocket with the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution on November 7, 1957. It was officially reported that Laika died from lack of oxygen on the sixth day after departure, but in 2002 they told the truth. In fact, she was only alive for six or seven hours after takeoff, and died due to fever and stress. Nevertheless, the memory of Laika lives on, and a monument was erected to her in Star City in the Moscow region.
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If a person does not like animals, then he is a very callous and cruel person. Animals cannot but evoke affection, because they are very honest and sincere towards people. Animals have repeatedly proven their devotion to people or simply surprised them with their actions. This article will tell you about the most famous animals on the planet. The most famous animals in the world photos and descriptions TOP 10 - look!
The most famous animals in the world photo TOP 10
Chimpanzee Ham
The most famous animals in the world - Chimpanzee Ham
This animal was the first to go on a long journey into space, and fortunately, everything ended very well. The monkey had to pull levers at the moment when the lights flashed during the flight. The animal set off on the spacecraft on January 31, 1961, but its journey did not last long. The fact is that the flight stopped three hours after takeoff due to problems with the air. When the monkey got out of the rocket, she felt good and was even able to eat a little.
Lioness named Elsa
The most famous animals in the world - Elsa the Lioness
From birth, Elsa had a very difficult life, because even when she was a child, her mother was shot by Joy’s husband, who then took in the baby and her brothers. When the wild cats grew up, the woman gave the boys to the zoo and kept Elsa with her. Despite the fact that Elsa became a pet for the family, the owner tried to raise her like a wild cat. After a while, Elsa gave birth to babies who began to live in the wild, and the lioness herself died at the age of five because she fell ill with babesiosis.
Jonathan the Turtle
The most famous animals in the world - Jonathan the Turtle
The oldest creature on the planet is a turtle named Jonathan. The animal lived for 179 years, which many people find hard to believe. If you look at photographs of the turtle, you will find a photograph taken in 1900, when Jonathan was 50 years old, if not older. Today the turtle lives with other turtles, leads a fairly active lifestyle, and if not for blindness in one eye, she could not be called an old lady. Jonathan enjoys caring for the much younger turtles.
Mongoose named Mister Mary
The most famous animals in the world - Mongoose Mister Mary
This sea creature, drinking green tea and killing snakes, faced a terrible fate: he was to be executed or deported to India. The animal came into the country with a foreign sailor, but the authorities did not want to leave Mister Mary because they were afraid that he would begin to multiply quickly. In fact, the animal could not reproduce, since it had no one to do it with. As a result, the sentence was postponed, and the animal was placed in a zoo, where a large number of people flocked to admire the mongoose. Some thought that Mr. Mary was dangerous, so they needed to get rid of him, while others, on the contrary, were dissatisfied with the verdict. The story ended with the mongoose living his life calmly and dying in 1968 by his own death.
Phil the Paxatonic groundhog
The most famous animals in the world - Phil the Groundhog
The most famous groundhog has been predicting the weather since February 2, 1886. In fact, Phil the groundhog is several groundhogs. The fact is that marmots live no more than 10 years, so one could not live to this day. Today there is a whole team of predictive marmots, who are watched by a mysterious group of people. For important ceremonies, the animals are dressed in beautiful tailcoats and top hats. No one knows where the predictive marmots came from.
The most famous animals in the world - Sam the Cat
Otherwise, this cat is also called unsinkable, because he was able to survive after three shipwrecks during the Second World War. For the first time, a cat survived the crash of the German ship Bismarck on May 27, 1941. About 2,000 people died that day, but the cat miraculously escaped. Then the cat was picked up by a British ship, which was later blown up, but this time the cat remained safe and sound. After everything that happened, the animal was taken onto an aircraft carrier and nicknamed the unsinkable Sam. The aircraft carrier took part in the battle, as a result of which it was blown up, but this time the seal survived. After this incident, the animal never lived on ships again, but died of its own death in the house of a sailor.
Pigeon named Cher Ami
The most famous animals in the world - Pigeon Shar Ami
This hero pigeon was a postman during the First World War. Over the entire period of its service, the bird was able to complete 12 very important missions. The last time the bird's flight was not so successful, as the pigeon came under fire. Cher Ami was shot in the chest, his leg was literally hanging by one thread, and the bird was blind in one eye. And yet, this did not stop the bird from conscientiously fulfilling its duty and saving 200 soldiers. At the end of the war, Sher Ami was awarded a wooden prosthesis, but a year later the bird died.
Horse Morocco
The most famous animals in the world - Morocco Horse
This legendary horse was very famous in its time, so it is not surprising that Shakespeare decided to describe its image in one of his works. The horse was so talented that it easily performed unusual tricks, danced on two and four legs, and was able to answer many questions, which is why it was even nicknamed a psychic. However, such abilities of Morocco could not help but interest the authorities, who accused the animal and its owner of witchcraft. Both the animal and the owner were sentenced to death, but they were not destined to die. During the hearing, the horse fell to its knees in front of the judge, thereby touching everyone present with its action. How exactly the owner and Morocco lived the rest of their lives is unknown.
An elephant named Jumbo
An African elephant named Jumbo was born in 1861. When he grew up, his weight was 6 tons and his height was 3.5 meters. For a long time the animal lived in a French zoo, but at the age of 4 he was transported to the London Zoo.
The elephant did not live there for long as he became very aggressive and unhappy, so he was sold to Phineas Taylor, who sent him to the circus. Despite the fact that the residents were very unhappy with this and expressed their disagreement in every possible way, the elephant liked it much more in the circus. Probably, Jumbo would have lived for a long time in the circus if a tragic accident had not happened to him on the railway, as a result of which the animal died.
A dog named Laika
The most famous animals in the world - a dog named Laika
The dog Laika, who was picked up by scientists on the street, had a very tragic fate. Laika became the first dog to fly into space. Unfortunately, the animal's flight ended very sadly, as the poor thing died. For a long time, scientists claimed that the dog died 6 days after the start from lack of oxygen, but later it turned out that the animal did not last even 6 hours, dying from severe overheating and stress. Posthumously, a monument was erected to the dog at the Institute of Military Medicine.
Many people love animals, but some animals were loved so much by their owners or did such extraordinary things that they are remembered fondly long after their death. Here is a selection of the ten most famous animals in history.
1. Chimpanzee Ham Ham the chimpanzee was the first hominid in space and, fortunately, his story is happier than that of the first astronaut dog, which we will talk about a little later. Named after Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, Ham was one of six monkeys trained to pull levers in response to flashing lights while the spacecraft was in flight.
Ham was selected by NASA and launched into space in the Mercury capsule; he made his short journey on January 31, 1961 - he managed to cover 250 km in 16.5 minutes. The flight had to be aborted due to oxygen problems, but Ham recovered three hours after the end of the journey - he even ate an apple and half an orange immediately after leaving the capsule. Ham then lived for more than 17 years at the National Zoo in Washington.
2. Lioness Elsa
Elsa the lioness came to public attention after the publication of naturalist Joy Adamson's book Born Free. The little lion cub's life was hard: his mother was killed by a huntsman, and Joy's husband, George, because she attacked him. Fortunately, George took Elsa and the other lion cubs, her brothers and sisters, with him, and went out to send them to zoos.
The young lioness Elsa lived with the Joy family as a pet, but people gradually prepared her to return to her natural habitat. Elsa gave birth to three lion cubs, who fully adapted to life in the wild, but Elsa herself, unfortunately, died at the age of five from a tick-borne disease. George Adamson and his assistants buried Elsa and staged a farewell fireworks display at her grave - 20 gun salvos.
3. Jonathan the Turtle
Jonathan the turtle is at least 179 years old and is the oldest known animal in the world. This is difficult to verify, but there is photographic evidence: the photo was taken during the Boer War in 1900 on the island of St. Helena, where Jonathan still lives. He was at least 50 years old at the time, and possibly as old as 70, so the turtle is now at least 179 years old.
Jonathan enjoys life in the company of five female turtles, and although he is blind in one eye, age does not seem to be a hindrance for him: he loves attention and is still aggressive enough to protect his young compared to him wives from sexy harassment of other males.
4. Mongoose Mr. Magoo
On November 15, 1962, a snake hunter, a mongoose named Mr. Magoo, was taken from the Duluth Zoo by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was sentenced to death or deportation to his homeland of India. The story caused a national scandal. A foreign sailor turned him in to the zoo, but the Service decided that mongooses had no place in the United States.
Ultimately, Mister Magic was given a reprieve. Over one weekend, thousands of people visited the unlucky predator, and many wrote to the authorities, saying that they needed to get rid of the beast: the mongoose could escape and live in a region where it has no natural enemies. In the end, they decided not to kill the mongoose, and he lived the rest of his life in the zoo, eating bird eggs. The mongoose died in 1968.
5. Punxsutawney Phil the Groundhog
The world's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, also known by his full name Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages and Greatest Weather Forecaster, has traditionally predicted the weather every year on February 2, Groundhog Day, since 1886. Surprisingly, some people believe that the same groundhog is still doing this to this day. Since these animals live on average only ten years, a groundhog would have to take regular doses of the elixir of life to live for more than a century.
The groundhog is looked after by a mysterious group of people called the "Inner Circle", and at the beginning of the prediction ceremony they bring the groundhog a top hat and tuxedo. Weather forecasting by the groundhog probably comes from a German superstition: if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on February 2nd and sees its shadow, winter will last another six weeks.
6. Sam the Cat
Unsinkable Sam was a wonderful cat who survived three shipwrecks during World War II. The first sinking ship from which Sam (at that time his name was Oscar) managed to escape was the Bismarck, sunk during a naval battle on May 27, 1941. Sam survived, although 2,000 crew members died.
Then the cat ended up on the British battleship Cossack, which was hit by a torpedo and exploded that same year. All 159 crew members died, but the cat survived, swam across Gibraltar and crawled ashore. The cat received the name Unsinkable Sam (fortunately, for cats it does not matter what their names are) and went to the ship Ark Royal, which was also eventually hit by a torpedo, but all the crew members except one were saved. Sam was found “angry but safe”, drifting in the middle of the ocean on a piece of wood. Fortunately, after this the cat was no longer taken on ships, and he lived to old age in a sailor's house in Belfast, where he died of natural causes in 1955.
7. Dove Cher Ami
The US Army owes a lot to the carrier pigeon Cher Ami, who did a lot for the war effort in France during the First World War. During bloody battles, British troops kept carrier pigeons to exchange important information - there were 600 of these birds in total, and Cher Ami was one of them. It delivered 12 important messages over several months in 1918, and made its last flight on the afternoon of October 4, 1918, during the Battle of Argonne.
The corps of troops was under fire and Major Whittlesey sent Cher Ami with a small note tied to his paw. Seriously wounded in the chest, blind in one eye and with one leg shot off, the bird managed to fly to its destination and thereby save the lives of 200 people. After this flight, the pigeon was cured and even given a wooden prosthesis to replace the lost paw, but he died less than a year later.
8. Horse of Morocco
The Dancing Horse of Morocco was so famous in 1591 in the United Kingdom that it was immortalized by Shakespeare in Love's Labour's Lost, in which the playwright referenced the dancing horse. The horse could do many things, including counting coins by stomping its hooves, dancing on two or four legs, and bowing to the queen when needed. The horse was also believed to be psychic because it moved its legs in a special way in response to certain questions.
This skill, however, nearly cost the horse and its owner, William Banks, their lives when they were accused of witchcraft, found guilty, and sentenced to death. But, apparently, the judge changed his mind when the horse knelt before him, asking for the life of its owner, and pardoned both. Little is known about their future lives, but, apparently, they lived comfortably on the income received from previous performances.
9. Jumbo the Elephant
Jumbo was born in 1861. While still a baby elephant, he was taken from French Sudan to the Paris Zoo, and at four years old he was transported from there to the London Zoo. When he became grumpy and uncontrollable, Jumbo was sold to R. T. Barnum's circus for $10,000, to the horror of the British public. Queen Victoria received more than 100 thousand letters asking her to be involved in the incident. But the elephant seemed quite happy at Barnum's circus until he died from a horrific injury sustained in a train explosion three years later.
10. Laika the dog
A young stray dog named Laika, a stray from the streets of Moscow, was destined to become the first cosmonaut dog. Unfortunately, Sputnik 2, in which Laika was sent into orbit, did not pass all the necessary tests, since USSR President Nikita Khrushchev wanted to launch the satellite on the day of the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution - November 7, 1957.
According to the official version, Laika died from lack of oxygen six days after the start of the journey, but in 2002 it became known that the poor thing lasted only six or seven hours, after which she died from overheating and stress, but a monument to the little dog was erected in Star City .
Many people love animals, but some animals were loved so much by their owners or did such extraordinary things that they are remembered fondly long after their death. Here is a selection of the ten most famous animals in history.
1. Chimpanzee Ham
Ham the chimpanzee was the first hominid in space and, fortunately, his story is happier than that of the first astronaut dog, which we will talk about a little later. Named after Holloman Aerospace Medical Center, Ham was one of six monkeys trained to pull levers in response to flashing lights while the spacecraft was in flight.
Ham was selected by NASA and launched into space in the Mercury capsule; he made his short journey on January 31, 1961 - he managed to cover 250 km in 16.5 minutes. The flight had to be aborted due to oxygen problems, but Ham recovered three hours after the end of the journey - he even ate an apple and half an orange immediately after leaving the capsule. Ham then lived for more than 17 years at the National Zoo in Washington.
2. Lioness Elsa
Elsa the lioness came to public attention after the publication of naturalist Joy Adamson's book Born Free. The little lion cub's life was hard: his mother was killed by a huntsman, and Joy's husband, George, because she attacked him. Fortunately, George took Elsa and the other lion cubs, her brothers and sisters, with him, and went out to send them to zoos.
The young lioness Elsa lived with the Joy family as a pet, but people gradually prepared her to return to her natural habitat. Elsa gave birth to three lion cubs, who fully adapted to life in the wild, but Elsa herself, unfortunately, died at the age of five from a tick-borne disease. George Adamson and his assistants buried Elsa and staged a farewell fireworks display at her grave - 20 gun salvos.
3. Jonathan the Turtle
Jonathan the turtle is at least 179 years old and is the oldest known animal in the world. This is difficult to verify, but there is photographic evidence: the photo was taken during the Boer War in 1900 on the island of St. Helena, where Jonathan still lives. He was at least 50 years old at the time, and possibly as old as 70, so the turtle is now at least 179 years old.
Jonathan enjoys life in the company of five female turtles, and although he is blind in one eye, age does not seem to be a hindrance for him: he loves attention and is still aggressive enough to protect his young compared to him wives from sexy harassment of other males.
4. Mongoose Mr. Magoo
On November 15, 1962, a snake hunter, a mongoose named Mr. Magoo, was taken from the Duluth Zoo by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was sentenced to death or deportation to his homeland of India. The story caused a national scandal. A foreign sailor turned him in to the zoo, but the Service decided that mongooses had no place in the United States.
Ultimately, Mister Magic was given a reprieve. Over one weekend, thousands of people visited the unlucky predator, and many wrote to the authorities, saying that they needed to get rid of the beast: the mongoose could escape and live in a region where it has no natural enemies. In the end, they decided not to kill the mongoose, and he lived the rest of his life in the zoo, eating bird eggs. The mongoose died in 1968.
5. Punxsutawney Phil the Groundhog
The world's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, also known by his full name Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages and Greatest Weather Forecaster, has traditionally predicted the weather every year on February 2, Groundhog Day, since 1886. Surprisingly, some people believe that the same groundhog is still doing this to this day. Since these animals live on average only ten years, a groundhog would have to take regular doses of the elixir of life to live for more than a century.
The groundhog is looked after by a mysterious group of people called the "Inner Circle", and at the beginning of the prediction ceremony they bring the groundhog a top hat and tuxedo. Weather forecasting by the groundhog probably comes from a German superstition: if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on February 2nd and sees its shadow, winter will last another six weeks.
6. Sam the Cat
Unsinkable Sam was a wonderful cat who survived three shipwrecks during World War II. The first sinking ship from which Sam (at that time his name was Oscar) managed to escape was the Bismarck, sunk during a naval battle on May 27, 1941. Sam survived, although 2,000 crew members died.
Then the cat ended up on the British battleship Cossack, which was hit by a torpedo and exploded that same year. All 159 crew members died, but the cat survived, swam across Gibraltar and crawled ashore. The cat received the name Unsinkable Sam (fortunately, for cats it does not matter what their names are) and went to the ship Ark Royal, which was also eventually hit by a torpedo, but all the crew members except one were saved. Sam was found “angry but safe”, drifting in the middle of the ocean on a piece of wood. Fortunately, after this the cat was no longer taken on ships, and he lived to old age in a sailor's house in Belfast, where he died of natural causes in 1955.
7. Dove Cher Ami
The US Army owes a lot to the carrier pigeon Cher Ami, who did a lot for the war effort in France during the First World War. During bloody battles, British troops kept carrier pigeons to exchange important information - there were 600 of these birds in total, and Cher Ami was one of them. It delivered 12 important messages over several months in 1918, and made its last flight on the afternoon of October 4, 1918, during the Battle of Argonne.
The corps of troops was under fire and Major Whittlesey sent Cher Ami with a small note tied to his paw. Seriously wounded in the chest, blind in one eye and with one leg shot off, the bird managed to fly to its destination and thereby save the lives of 200 people. After this flight, the pigeon was cured and even given a wooden prosthesis to replace the lost paw, but he died less than a year later.
8. Horse of Morocco
The Dancing Horse of Morocco was so famous in 1591 in the United Kingdom that it was immortalized by Shakespeare in Love's Labour's Lost, in which the playwright referenced the dancing horse. The horse could do many things, including counting coins by stomping its hooves, dancing on two or four legs, and bowing to the queen when needed. The horse was also believed to be psychic because it moved its legs in a special way in response to certain questions.
This skill, however, nearly cost the horse and its owner, William Banks, their lives when they were accused of witchcraft, found guilty, and sentenced to death. But, apparently, the judge changed his mind when the horse knelt before him, asking for the life of its owner, and pardoned both. Little is known about their future lives, but, apparently, they lived comfortably on the income received from previous performances.
9. Jumbo the Elephant
Jumbo was born in 1861. While still a baby elephant, he was taken from French Sudan to the Paris Zoo, and at four years old he was transported from there to the London Zoo. When he became grumpy and uncontrollable, Jumbo was sold to R. T. Barnum's circus for $10,000, to the horror of the British public. Queen Victoria received more than 100 thousand letters asking her to be involved in the incident. But the elephant seemed quite happy at Barnum's circus until he died from a horrific injury sustained in a train explosion three years later.
10. Laika the dog
A young stray dog named Laika, a stray from the streets of Moscow, was destined to become the first cosmonaut dog. Unfortunately, Sputnik 2, in which Laika was sent into orbit, did not pass all the necessary tests, since USSR President Nikita Khrushchev wanted to launch the satellite on the day of the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution - November 7, 1957.
According to the official version, Laika died from lack of oxygen six days after the start of the journey, but in 2002 it became known that the poor thing lasted only six or seven hours, after which she died from overheating and stress, but a monument to the little dog was erected in Star City .
