Felines Who Made History
History has made room for plenty of horses, dogs, and even pigeons, but do you know what animal hardly gets enough credit? Cats! Those fuzzy creatures have quietly built up an impressive record of their own. Some sailed around the world, survived wars, worked actual jobs, or even became scientific firsts—and they all deserve their time in the spotlight. These 20 cats left such an impression that historians were still documenting their adventures long after the food bowl was empty.
1. Ta-Miu
More than 3,300 years ago, Egyptian crown prince Thutmose owned a cat named Ta-Miu. When she died during the 18th Dynasty, she was mummified and placed inside an elaborately decorated limestone sarcophagus, one that’s still in Cairo today. The adorable shrine depicts her getting food in the afterlife.
2. Trim
British explorer Matthew Flinders' cat Trim was actually born aboard ship in 1799. He even accompanied Flinders during his circumnavigation of Australia between 1801 and 1803. Flinders got so attached to the little guy that he later wrote an adoring tribute to him after Trim disappeared while they were detained on Mauritius.
3. Hodge
There’s no denying how much dictionary writer Samuel Johnson adored his 18th-century cat, Hodge. At the time, keeping cats as pampered pets wasn't exactly fashionable, but Johnson took it further than a scratching post (he reportedly bought oysters for Hodge himself because he feared that making a servant do it might cause resentment). Today, Hodge has the same treatment he got in life: living on as a bronze statue outside Johnson's former home.
4. Crimean Tom
When British and French troops entered Sevastopol in 1855 during the Crimean War, a tabby became known as Crimean Tom. Later accounts claimed Tom even helped soldiers locate hidden Russian food supplies, though that could just be a legend. We’re going to believe it, though.
National Army Museum London on Wikimedia
5. Mrs Chippy
Despite the name, Mrs Chippy was actually a male tabby belonging to carpenter Harry McNish. He sailed aboard Ernest Shackleton's Endurance expedition of 1914, and crew accounts described him walking the ship's narrow rails and even surviving in freezing water after falling overboard. When Endurance got crushed by ice in 1915, Shackleton ordered Mrs Chippy killed because the stranded party couldn’t take care of him anymore.
Nigel Cross, of Wellington, New Zealand on Wikimedia
6. Faith
Faith lived at St. Augustine's Church during World War II, becoming famous after an air raid in 1940. She had previously moved her kitten, Panda, into the basement and camped out there, protecting him while bombing and fire destroyed much of the building around them. In 1945, Faith received a special PDSA silver medal for her bravery.
Cosmic Timetraveler on Unsplash
7. Unsinkable Sam
According to one of WWII's strangest stories, a black-and-white cat later called Unsinkable Sam somehow made it out of three sinking warships in 1941. Records say that he was first rescued after the German battleship Bismarck sank on May 27, then survived the destruction of HMS Cossack and HMS Ark Royal later that year. Some historians question the validity of his nine lives, but the Royal Museums Greenwich still has a portrait associated with him.
Georgina Shaw Baker on Wikimedia
8. Simon
Simon was aboard HMS Amethyst when Chinese artillery struck the vessel during the Yangtze Incident. Although he suffered injuries from shrapnel and burns, he recovered. He also started killing rats that went after the crew's limited food supplies. Simon received the PDSA Dickin Medal later that year, becoming the only cat ever awarded the decoration for animal bravery.
9. Félicette
France launched Félicette on a suborbital spaceflight in 1963, making her the first cat sent into space who thankfully made it back alive. Electrodes implanted in her body allowed researchers to study neurological data during the 15-minute mission. She soared approximately 100 miles above Earth, and a bronze memorial to her was unveiled in 2019.
10. Towser
Towser spent her life working at Scotland's Glenturret Distillery, where stored barley naturally attracted critters. Well, Towser wasn’t going to let mice get in her way, and Guinness World Records credits her with an estimated 28,899 kills before she died in 1987. Her role earned her a statue outside the distillery.
11. Room 8
A stray gray-and-white cat wandered into Elysian Heights Elementary School in 1952, settling into the classroom that gave him his name. Room 8 peeled off during summer vacations and returned when school started again, eventually attracting reporters, TV crews, fan mail, and his very own magazine feature. He was connected with the school for 16 years before dying in 1968.
12. Orangey
Few feline actors had a résumé like Orangey. The famous four-legged star appeared in Rhubarb in 1951 and opposite Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's a decade later, earning PATSY Awards for both performances. Hollywood trainer Frank Inn later indicated that multiple look-alike cats were used under the Orangey name, making the superstar something of a Hollywood creation itself.
Trailer screenshot on Wikimedia
13. Creme Puff
Creme Puff was born in Texas in 1967, and somehow stayed alive until 2005. Her final age of 38 years and three days made her the oldest cat ever verified by Guinness World Records. Stranger still, owner Jake Perry had previously owned another long-lived cat, Grandpa Rex Allen, who reached 34.
14. Blackie
British antiques dealer Ben Rea lived with numerous cats, but Blackie was the last surviving one when Rea died in 1988. Apparently, Blackie left quite the mark, too, as Rea’s will directed most of a £7 million fortune toward three cat charities on the condition that they care for Blackie. As for Rea’s human relatives, they didn’t really get anything.
15. Socks
It was actually Chelsea Clinton's piano teacher who discovered the stray kitten eventually known as Socks. After Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992, Socks moved into the White House and became such a celebrity that Americans sent him hundreds of letters, cards, and photographs every month.
16. Stubbs
Stubbs became the unofficial political face of Talkeetna, Alaska, after residents referred to him as the town's honorary mayor in the 1990s. Okay, so, the position wasn't an elected government office, but the story goes that he won a write-in campaign because Talkeetna doesn’t have a conventional mayor. Stubbs nevertheless became a tourist attraction and held his title until his death in 2017.
17. Tama
It sounds weird at first, but Japan's Wakayama Electric Railway appointed a calico named Tama stationmaster of Kishi Station in 2007. It was actually a smart move; financial trouble threatened the rail line, but with news of a cat on site, visitors flocked to see her in a little railway hat. Tama also climbed the corporate ladder, which only drew more attention. Following her death in 2015, she was given the posthumous title of Honorary Eternal Stationmaster and enshrined at the station.
Sanpei at Japanese Wikipedia on Wikimedia
18. Scarlett
During a Brooklyn fire in 1996, a badly burned stray later named Scarlett kept running into the building to remove her five kittens one at a time. Her eyes were blistered shut, her ears and paws had serious burns, and reports even said that she checked the rescued kittens with her nose because she couldn’t see them. The story spread, and thousands of adoption inquiries poured in before Scarlett was whisked away to a new home.
19. CC
Born in 2001 at Texas A&M University, CC became the first successfully cloned domestic cat. Researchers created her using DNA from a female cat named Rainbow, although differences in developmental conditions meant their coat markings weren’t quite identical. Either way, CC lived a normal life, had her own kittens, and made it to 2020.
Taken by Pschemp with permission on Wikimedia
20. Jock
Winston Churchill received an orange tabby named Jock for his birthday in 1962. He became so attached to him that, after he died in 1965, his family asked that Jock always live at Chartwell. The National Trust still abides by that wish, giving each new resident cat the same name.
