“I resented the statue to Balto, for if any dog deserved special mention, it was Togo.” -Leonhard Seppala, Togo’s Owner 15: Togo Helped Deliver Medicine to Children in Nome, Alaska Born: October 1913, Alaska, United States of America Died: 5 December 1929, Poland Spring, Maine, United States of America In 1925, the small town of…
14: Trakr Pulled the Last Survivor Out of the World Trade Center After the 9/11 Terror Attacks Born: c.1994 Prague, Czech Republic Died: April 2009, Los Angeles, California, USA Trakr was a German Shepherd living in Canada in 2001. He had been trained as a police K9 dog in Halifax, and earlier on in his…
13: Hachikō Dog Remembered for His Loyalty to His Owner, Even After the Owner Passed Away Born: 10 November 1923, Odate City, Akita Prefecture, Japan Died: 8 March 1935, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan Also Known As: Hachi Hachikō is arguably the most-famous dog in Japanese history. His story has been immortalized in several movies, books, and…
12: Tardar Sauce The Internet’s Most Famous Cat Born: 4 April 2012, Morristown, Arizona, United States of America Died: 14 May 2019, Morristown, Arizona, United States of America Also Known As: Grumpy Cat Tardar Sauce climbed to internet fame in 2012 when her image went viral for the first time. In the beginning, people claimed…
11: Harambe the Gorilla Gorilla Whose Tragic Death Became One of the Biggest Internet News Stories of All Time Born: 27 May 1999, Brownsville, Texas, United States of America Died: 28 May 2016, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America Harambe was a western lowland silverback gorilla. He was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in…
10: Smokey Bear The Real-Life Inspiration Behind the Campaign “Only YOU Can Prevent Wildfires!” Born: January 1950, Lincoln National Forest (Near Capitan), New Mexico, United States of America Died: 9 May 1976, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America In Spring 1950, a wildfire was blazing through the Capitan Mountains in New Mexico. While…
9: Ol’ Rip The Texas Horned Toad Born: c.1897 or Earlier, Most-Likely Texas, United States of America Died: 19 January 1929, Eastland, Texas, United States of America In 1897, the city of Eastland in Texas was building a courthouse. A local resident had heard that horned toads, a specific kind of lizard native to the…
8: Cher Ami Carrier Pigeon That Saved the Lost Battalion in World War I Born: c. Late March-Early April 1918, Possibly Norfolk, England, United Kingdom Died: 13 June 1919, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, United States of America During the years in which World War I was fought, technologies like telephones and radio communications were still…
7: Kabosu かぼす The Real Doge Dog Born: c.2005, Japan Died: 24 May 2024, Sakura, Japan Kabosu lived to the age of eighteen and was a Shiba Inu dog who lived with her family in Japan. Her image was used to create the “Doge” meme many years ago. At one point in her life, Kabosu…
6: El Chango The Mexican Drug Cartel Monkey Born: c.2021, Presumably Mexico Died: June 2022, Texcaltitlán, Mexico The story of El Chango, or El Changuito (depending on the source) went viral after his death. Photos flooded the internet of a small spider monkey wearing a tactical vest and camouflage. The poor little guy evidently belonged…