Dogs have long been the go-to companion for humankind. That’s not just for hunters, gatherers and nuclear families, either. If you pan the camera down on some of the most important figures in human history, you’d spy a little canine friend nipping at their heels. Which means that some of the greatest figures to ever exist would likely stoop down to coochie-coochie-coo a dog walking around your neighborhood, and I simply love that.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Fala the Scottish Terrier
It’s one demonstration of love to share your bed with a dog, but to share a statue? That’s next level stuff. Not that it would surprise those who knew FDR and his devotion to his Scottish terrier, “Murray the Outlaw of Falahill,” or “Fala” for short. He never had a problem sharing the spotlight with Fala while alive, either.
He was recognizable not only to staff but to the general public, and received his own dedicated fan mail, enough that he was appointed his own secretary. Fala slept in a chair at the foot of FDR’s bed, had a bone brought to him every morning with his owner’s breakfast, and, oh yeah, caused a legitimate political scandal when FDR was accused of spending taxpayer money to retrieve him after leaving him on the Aleutian Islands.
Winston Churchill and Rufus the Poodle
The dog most people associate with Churchill is probably the bulldog, thanks to the physical resemblance. Meet enough English bulldogs, and it won’t be long before you come across one named Winston or Churchill. The actual Winston Churchill, though, loved a different breed: the miniature poodle. He had a beloved brown poodle named Rufus. When Rufus sadly passed away? Churchill got another brown poodle, naming him “Rufus II — but the II is silent.”
Both Rufus and his successor accompanied the prime minister wherever and whenever possible, with one of the very few exceptions being the Cabinet Room, with Churchill reportedly escorting him out saying, “No, Rufus, I haven’t found it necessary to ask you to join the wartime Cabinet.”
Josephine Bonaparte and Fortune the Pug
By nature of marrying into his ownership, Napoleon Bonaparte was also technically the owner of a pug named Fortune, along with his wife Josephine. He wasn’t happy about it, however. Fortune had predated Napoleon in his lover’s life, and by all accounts, he wasn’t all too happy to share her. As the tale goes, the night of their wedding, as Napoleon and Josephine attempted to consummate the marriage, Fortune took a healthy bite out of Napoleon’s leg — a trustworthy story, given that it comes from Napoleon himself.
He described his relationship with Fortune to his friend and playwright Antoine-Vincent Arnault as such: “Do you see that gentleman: he is my rival. He was in possession of madam’s bed when I married her. I wished to remove him, but it was quite useless to think of it. I was told that I must either sleep elsewhere or consent to share my bed. That annoyed me considerably, but I had to make up my mind. I gave way. The favorite was less accommodating,” adding, “I bear proofs on my legs of what I say.”
Isaac Newton and Diamond the Pomeranian
Newton owned a positively tiny dog, one not much bigger than the apple that famously (and probably falsely) fell on his head. Newton’s furry friend was a Pomeranian by the name of Diamond. Diamond, like her owner, almost had a measurable effect on the world’s scientific knowledge, though a negative one. She, while exhibiting what we now know as the “zoomies,” slammed into the leg of Newton’s writing table, knocking over a candle and setting fire to one of his manuscripts, destroying months of work.
The contents of said manuscript? Just some musings on something called the theory of gravity.
Alexander the Great and Peritas, the Absolute Unit
Alexander the Great is probably the most accomplished military commander in history. To be someone that saved that guy’s life on the battlefield? One hell of an achievement — especially for a dog. Alexander’s favorite dog, Peritas, wasn’t a lapdog or a homebody relegated to attending war-room meetings, but a dog that actually fought alongside Alexander in battle. When Alexander was wounded by the Mallian army, Peritas supposedly defended him until help could arrive, unfortunately receiving a fatal javelin wound in the process.
For his sacrifice, he received a high honor: a whole city named after him, with an (as of yet unrecovered) statue of the dog supposedly standing in the town square.
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