The bond between animals and humans is both earthly and divine. Animals have been mentioned in the Qur'an and the Bible, as well as in sacred Buddhist texts. They have penetrated even into the folklore and traditions of almost all peoples of the world. So don't take your pets away from your blue screens, because we will tell you about ten amazing animals that have left their mark on history.
10. Dog Betsy
Border Collies are considered the smartest of all dog breeds... However, even among the representatives of this breed there are geeks. Like the Border Collie Betsy, who was born in 2002 in Vienna, Austria. By the time she was only 10 weeks old, she already understood the command to sit and knew many objects such as a ball and a set of keys. She even brought them at the command of the owner.
Research has proven that the learning rate of human children and Betsy is the same... It has a vocabulary of over 340 words that rivals the monkey vocabulary in terms of intelligence and lateral thinking. Betsy's interaction with humans is considered an evolution in the dog world.
9. Dog Dzhulbars
It is not known how many words Dzhulbars knew. But it is known that during the Great Patriotic War, a dog with a phenomenal flair, found over 7000 mines and 150 shells.
In 1945, he was supposed to take part in the Victory Parade. However, due to his wounds, the dog could not pass in the same ranks with his tailed mine detector colleagues. When Joseph Stalin was informed about this, he gave his greatcoat so that Dzhulbars could be carried on it across Red Square.
After recovering from his wounds, Dzhulbars took part in the filming of the 1946 film "White Fang" based on the story of the same name by Jack London.
8. Hubert's hippo
This female hippo was one of the most famous animals of the 20th century. It is not known what caused Hubert decides on a long and dangerous journey from the mouth of the Santa Lucia River in the Zulu Kingdom to the Eastern Cape (there are almost 1600 km between them). However, she got down to business with enthusiasm and without hesitation.
It took Hubert three years to complete the journey. She crossed highways, ate in parks, walked to cities, to farms, and even spoiled the grass of golf courses. People treated her to fruit, and journalists described the movement of the hippo for her many fans.
Unfortunately, Hubert's journey ended tragically. In 1931, she was shot and killed by a group of hunters in East London. The effigy of Huberta is currently housed in the Museum of Natural and Cultural History in King Williams Town.
7. Dog Rin Tin Tin
This dog, along with his 4 brothers and mother, was rescued from the battlefield by American Lee Duncan during the First World War. It is unlikely that his new owner expected that an ordinary German Shepherd puppy would soon become a movie star. However, Duncan and his pet were lucky to be in the right place at the right time. Warner Brothers was filming the scene with the wolf in The Man from the River Hell. Here in the role of a toothy predator and starred Rin Tin Tin.
The audience really liked the film, and the four-legged actor became one of the most profitable Hollywood stars, appearing in 27 films. This dog even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Rin Tin Tin "went to the rainbow" at the age of 13, in 1932.
6. Dolly the Sheep
Born on July 5, 1996, this fluffy lump became first cloned mammals... Dolly emerged from an adult (somatic) cell, the nucleus of which was transplanted into the cytoplasm of the egg.
With its birth, a scientific and social revolution took place. Some prominent scientists have openly expressed doubts about the possibility of such cloning. It was too good to be true. But then other animals were cloned: first a laboratory mouse, and then cows, goats, pigs, horses, dogs, ferrets and even camels. By the beginning of 2000, all doubts were gone: Dolly was real, and cloning of adult animals is possible.
The implications of animal cloning in our society were obvious from the very beginning. The ability to reprogram adult, already specialized cells and launch them as something new may one day be the key to creating cells and organs that match each individual patient's immune system. And this opens up the broadest possibilities for replacing tissues damaged as a result of trauma, genetic disorders and degeneration.
5. Lioness Elsa
In 1956, the ranger from Kenya George Adamson and his wife Joy adopted a little lion cub, calling her Elsa. For several years, the Adamsons took care of the predatory pet. The couple eventually freed Elsa and, surprisingly, she settled into the wild.
In 1960, Joy published the popular science book Born Free, about Elsa's upbringing experience. Six years later, a movie based on this book was released. It is still promoted to preserve wildlife.
4. Horse Fine Jim Key
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a horse show by the name of Fine Jim Key and his trainer and owner, William Kay, was watched by an estimated ten million Americans. All major newspapers wrote about this pair, thanks to which Jim became one of the the most famous horses in the world... Not bad for the faint of heart and ex-slave.
Through humane, self-taught veterinarian training, Jim Key "learned" to read, write, fold, sort mail, and even use a cash register and telephone. All these skills the Wonder Horse demonstrated to an enthusiastic audience across the country.
3. Balto the dog
In 1925, doctors in Alaska faced a deadly dilemma. A diphtheria epidemic swept through the city of Nome, located on the far west coast of Alaska, and the only serum that could save them was in Seattle. Unable to transport the medicine by plane due to difficult weather conditions, officials came up with an alternative: they used several teams of dog sleds to deliver the serum to the settlement.
At the head of the team, which successfully crossed the last leg of the route and delivered the vaccine to Nome, was Balto, a black and white Siberian husky. He was able to lead the team through a snowstorm in the middle of the night in order to bring the medicine that people needed so much. Having reached the city in the early morning of February 2, 1925, Gunnar Kaasen, who was leading the team, uttered only three words: “Damn good dog».
Balto became famous all over the world, becoming one of the symbols of perseverance and courage. Several films and cartoons were dedicated to him, and a monument was erected.
2. Hachiko the dog
This is perhaps the most famous dog in the world. The most faithful friend of the Akita Inu breed made hundreds of people sob with emotion and pity when watching a movie with Richard Gere.
Hachiko was a dog known for his endless loyalty and love for his owner Eisaburo Ueno, a professor at the University of Tokyo. Every day, Hachiko waited for the owner at the Shibuya railway station, but one day Ueno did not return from work, he died right at the university from a cerebral hemorrhage.but Hachiko came to the train station every day for 9 years... Now a bronze statue is installed on this site.
Unfortunately in Russia there are many of their own Hachikos, who were abandoned or forgotten by their owners, but continue to wait for them for years. Only they do not make films about them and rarely write in the press.
1. Cat Unsinkable Sam
Sam may not have been the most beautiful cat in the world... But he was definitely phenomenally happy.
His naval career began during the Second World War, on the German battleship Bismarck. This warship took part in the battle with the British battleship "Prince of Wales", was badly damaged and became uncontrollable. The ship ultimately sank and only 115 of the more than 2,200 crew members survived. Hours later Sam (then called Oscar) was found floating on a board... He was rescued by sailors from the British destroyer "Kazak". It was then that Unsinkable Sam went over to the side of the allies.
For several months, the cat regularly caught mice on the Cossack, while the ship performed duties to escort convoys in the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic. During this period, everything went quite smoothly, but in the end, the ship was badly damaged by a torpedo from a German submarine, and 159 crew members were killed. Oscar was found clinging to a piece of plank and was taken to a coastal facility in Gibraltar. After this, British officers changed his name to Unsinkable Sam. But his adventures were not over yet.
Unsinkable Sam was accepted by the crew of the aircraft carrier "Arc Royal" - ironically, it was this ship that contributed to the sinking of the "Bismarck". The Arc Royal has survived several attacks and gained a reputation as a “lucky ship”. But the luck did not last long, and, returning from Malta on November 14, 1941, this ship was also torpedoed. This time Sam was found clinging to a board and described as "an angry but completely unharmed cat."
This time, even with the tailed lucky one was enough. He was reassigned to work on land and spent time hunting mice at the Gibraltarian governor's residence. He was then sent back to the UK, where he remained at the Seamen's House in Belfast for the rest of his days.