10 Cats Who Made History

Michigan State professor Jack Hetherington was in a bind. He had just finished typing a physics paper (that would later become quite influential) when a colleague noted he had used the royal "we" throughout the article. Hetherington planned to submit it to Physical Review Letters for publication, but that periodical had strict rules regarding authorship. If an article used plural words such as "we," it had to have two or more people listed as the authors.

As it was 1975, this was quite problematic; changing all of those "we's" to "I's" via typewriter would be a Herculean task. So, Hetherington decided his Siamese cat, Chester, would become his co-author. But Chester needed a more formal and complete name, so Hetherington dubbed him F.D.C. Willard. The scientist came up with "F.D.C." from "Felix Domesticus, Chester" and chose the surname "Willard" because that was the name of Chester's dad. Voilà – Chester was now the co-author of a prestigious physics paper [source: Grundhauser].

Chester's true identity was soon discovered when a visitor stopped at Michigan State to meet the authors. Fortuitously for Hetherington, university officials weren't upset over the deception. In fact, they liked the idea of Chester becoming a feline physics mascot. Editors around the nation weren't amused by the prank, however, presumably including the editors of Physical Review Letters, which had unknowingly published the piece.

Willard/Chester went on to solo-author another physics paper in 1980, though we suspect his owner might have given just a little help — at least with the typing.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, people believed Australia was a collection of islands. Not so Capt. Matthew Flinders of England. Convinced Australia was a continent, he sailed there in 1790 and again in 1797. During his latter trip, a cat on the ship gave birth to a litter of kittens. One of them was Trim, a jet-black feline with a white star on his chest and four white paws [source: Roberts].

Flinders and his crew quickly fell in love with Trim, impressed with his energy, exceptional balance, intelligence and unusual indifference to getting wet. Over the next few years, Trim accompanied Flinders several more times as he circumnavigated the Australian continent. Flinders even wrote a long essay on Trim's many virtues — for instance he could do many tricks, such as jumping over a seaman's clasped hands.

Then tragedy struck one year when Flinders and his crew had to stop in Mauritius for repairs. The island was controlled by the French, who were at war with England, so Flinders, Trim and another officer were imprisoned. Later Trim was taken away from the men, supposedly to be cared for by a woman. But she quickly lost Trim, who was never seen again. A grief-stricken Flinders promised to erect a memorial to his accomplished cat, but died shortly after his seven-year imprisonment and before fulfilling his promise.

Flinders and Trim were both eventually honored for their maritime achievements. In 1925, a statue of Flinders was erected at Australia's State Library of New South Wales; an accompanying bronze statue of Trim on a window ledge directly behind Flinders' memorial was built in 1996. Trim's statue is very popular, as is the library's café, named in his honor.

Koko loved books about cats. So, one year the gorilla – famous for learning 1,000 words in American Sign Language – asked her trainers for a kitten as a Christmas present. They complied, giving her a stuffed cat. But that greatly upset Koko, who wanted the real thing. She got her wish several months later, when her trainers at the Gorilla Institute near Stanford University let her select a Manx kitten as her birthday present.

Koko, who loved rhyming words, named the fluffy bundle All Ball. The two quickly bonded. Koko mothered her precious kitty, trying to nurse him and often cuddling and petting him. The two also played daily. But a mere five months after Koko adopted All Ball, he escaped the research facility, wandered onto a nearby highway and was run over.

Koko was devastated, first refusing to acknowledge the news and then sobbing. Thirty years passed. In 2015, on Koko's 44th birthday, she received two kittens, Ms. Gray and Ms. Black, whom she bonded with instantly. Her two new pets were probably the best birthday presents she'd ever received since All Ball [sources: McGraw, Kratochwill].

When a black-and-white cat jumped into Chelsea Clinton's arms as she was leaving her piano lesson in 1991, it was the smartest move a stray could make. The Clintons adopted the cat, whom they named Socks, and a year later brought him with them to the White House when Chelsea's dad, William J. Clinton, became president.

Socks quickly scouted out several favorite snoozing spots in his new home, including the Oval Office, a wing chair in the West Wing and the office of Betty Currie, the president's secretary. But he wasn't a lazy feline. Hillary Clinton brought Socks with her when she visited kids and senior citizens, and he typically charmed them all.

The public became so besotted with Socks over the years that he was mentioned in the TV comedy "Murphy Brown," appeared on "Larry King Live" – in Muppet form – when Kermit the Frog was hosting, and was even depicted (along with President Clinton) in a series of stamps printed in the Central African Republic.

Socks' halcyon days ended in 1997, when the Clintons added Buddy, a chocolate Lab, to the family. The famous feline resented him so greatly that the Clintons gave Socks to Betty Currie when they left the White House in 2001. Socks lived to be 20 before dying in 2009 [source: Presidential Pet Museum].

Snowball was owned by a Canadian couple living on Prince Edward Island, Canada. In 1994, their son, Douglas Beamish, was living with them after being paroled from prison. During this time, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) found the body of Beamish's estranged common-law wife, Shirley Duguay, in a shallow grave. Beamish became the prime suspect in her murder. The only problem? The RCMP had no evidence [source: Encyclopedia].

But police did find a leather jacket near the crime scene splattered with Duguay's blood. And some of Beamish's friends said they thought he owned such a coat. Close examination of the jacket uncovered 27 white cat hairs inside the lining. If they belonged to Snowball, that would provide a clear link to Beamish. But forensic scientists couldn't determine which cat the hairs came from. So, they contacted a U.S. lab to see if the hairs could be tested for DNA – something not previously done with animals.

The cat hair did match a blood sample from Snowball. But to prove to the jury that other cats on the island didn't have the same DNA, experts tested 20 others. They all had DNA that greatly varied from that of Snowball's. The result: a second-degree murder conviction and 15-year prison sentence for Douglas. In addition, Snowball's case inspired others around the globe to look to pet fur for clues in criminal cases [source: Boyle].

The Islamic prophet Muhammad always loved cats. His favorite feline of all was Muezza. Muhammad was so attached to him, he'd let the cat sit on his lap while he gave his sermons. He'd even drink water that Muezza had previously been lapping up [source: Islamic Information Portal].

There are several well-known tales about Muezza. One says that the cat saved Muhammad from the deadly bite of a venomous snake. Another relates a time when Muezza was asleep on Muhammad's robe when the call to prayers sounded. Although most people would have simply shooed away the cat, Muhammad instead cut off the sleeve of his robe so Muezza could rest in peace. He then stroked Muezza three times to grant him the ability to land on his feet under any circumstances, and also gave him seven lives.

Today, Islam instructs Muslims to revere cats. In fact, mistreating a cat is considered a major transgression [source: Islamic Information Portal].

It was 2011 and there was a bit of a mouse problem at 10 Downing Street, home of Britain's prime minister. So, a staff member plucked a feline from a rescue home to chase the mice away. The brown-and-white tabby chosen was named Larry, and his title was Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office – the first cat to hold the title.

Larry's job performance gets mixed reviews. While Larry has been of marginal help dealing with the mouse problem, he appears to be well-suited to his other duties, such as welcoming visitors and seeking out the best napping spots. He was also known to get into fights with Palmerston, the Foreign Office cat, when they met outside [sources: Lewis]. (Palmerston retired in 2020 and moved to the countryside.)

Some Brits fretted over Larry's fate after the country's 2016 "Brexit" vote, which resulted in a prime minister swap. Some wondered if Larry would be booted out along with David Cameron, since the tabby was officially a Cameron appointee. However, he kept his job under replacements Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and now Rishi Sunak. Larry, say officials, is a civil servant.

At first, Oscar's gift seemed a bit creepy. The gray-and-white feline, raised in a dementia unit at Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rhode Island, could predict when residents were close to death, staying curled up in a ball beside them during their final hours. Some who learned about his gift likened Oscar to the Grim Reaper. But rehab center staff viewed his unusual abilities as a gift, as it gave them time to summon family members to the bedside of their loved ones. Plus, the residents had a comforting presence next to them as they readied to die, even if they weren't fully conscious.

Oscar was adopted by the facility from an animal shelter when he was a kitten; the hope was to raise him as a therapy cat. But he didn't really take to people, at least not those who were healthy. Instead, at about 6 months of age, he began making the rounds with the medical staff, heading into each room to sniff and observe the patients. If someone's death was imminent, he'd hop onto the bed and remain until he or she died, which was typically within four hours. By 2010, he had accurately forecast some 50 deaths and was better at predicting someone's death than the medical staff.

No one is certain how Oscar's gift works. Some theorize he can smell certain scents that humans can't; others posit he's learned something from the behaviors of the nurses at the center. But what is certain is this: Oscar has been thanked by families in obituaries; he's the subject of a book; and there's a wall plaque at the center commending him for his compassionate hospice care. Not bad for a shelter kitty [sources: Fox News, Goldsmith].

Internet cats are a dime a dozen, but some actually become millionaires. Exhibit A: Grumpy Cat. This Siamese cat seemed to have a cursed start in life. An underbite and feline dwarfism resulted in a face that appeared to be perpetually frowning. And then one of her owners, youngChyrstal Bundesen, attempted to name her "Tartar Sauce" after the color of her whitish coat, but misspelled it as "Tardar Sauce." So Tardar she was, although many simply called her Grumpy Cat due to her sour puss [sources: Van Syckle, ABC 7].

Tardar's official owner, Chyrstal's mom, Tabatha Bundesen, started a Facebook page and Twitter account for Tardar. Suddenly she became an internet sensation, with millions of "likes" on Facebook and several hundred thousand Twitter followers. Tabatha joined forces with Ben Lashes, a California-based meme manager, to further Grumpy Cat's meteoric rise. (Lashes also reps "Keyboard Cat.")

Tardar's mug was all over T-shirts. She was a spokes-cat for Friskies cat food, and she wrote several books (the inaugural one, "Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book," spent 10 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list). Grumpy Cat raked in more than $100 million for Tabatha Bundesen, and was considered one of the most popular viral characters on the internet. Not bad for a dour cat with an underbite [sources: Van Syckle, CCTV, Wilson]. Sadly, Grumpy Cat died in 2019 at age 7 of complications from a urinary tract infection.

When residents of Talkeetna, Alaska (population: less than 1,000) weren't thrilled with their choices for mayor in 1997, a majority wrote in the name "Stubbs." The only glitch was that Stubbs was a cat. A kitty, actually, that was born that year.

That's the story Talkeetnans tell, anyway. Talkeetna doesn't actually have a mayor. But the townsfolk took a liking to the orange cat, found in the parking lot of Nagley's General Store and taken in by its owner, and decided the feline should be the town's honorary official. Stubbs, so-named because he only had the stub of a tail, got the job, a Facebook page and lots of love and attention to boot [sources: Peterson, Campbell].

Stubbs retired from public life in 2015, due to old age. He died in 2017, having served Talkeetna faithfully for 20 years. "He was a trouper until the very last day of his life," his owners wrote in a statement announcing his passing. "You are a remarkable cat and we will dearly miss you" [source: Levin].