Page 118 - 100 Events That Made History

Animal antics Animals have often

played big roles in
the course of history.
They’ve changed the
outcome of battles, and
These animals have made HEADLINES made huge scientific

advances possible. Here are
as heroes, villains, and victims
some who have left their
(paw) prints on history!

Death by tortoise
Did you know?
Writing tragedies was the
In both World Wars,
speciality of the ancient Greek
homing pigeons were used
AESCHYLUS, but he couldn’t
to carry vital messages
have imagined his own tragic
from battlefronts, saving
end. According to legend, he was
hundreds of lives.
killed in 456 BCE when an eagle
dropped a tortoise on his bald
head, mistaking it for a rock that
would crack the tortoise’s shell.

According to legend, Aeschylus
The geese were dedicated was staying outside to avoid
to the god Juno, and so a prophecy that he would be
were deemed sacred. killed by a falling object!

Guardian geese
In 390 BCE, Rome was besieged by the Gauls,
who trapped the city’s defenders in a fort. One
night, the Gauls climbed the fort’s walls. The
Romans and their guard dogs snored on, but the
city’s sacred GEESE WENT CRAZY, honking and
flapping their wings. Alerted by the hullabaloo,
the Romans woke and defeated the Gauls, later
building a temple to the geese in gratitude.

116