Marie-Antoinette and her cats baroudeurs

History tells us that Marie Antoinette loved animals very much. Besides her dogs and horses, she also had two cats, at Versailles. When she escaped from the Revolution, Marie Antoinette decided to entrust her Turkish angoras to Captain Samuel Clough on his way to New England. In Maine, the royal cats and the local cats get together, and give birth to the breed that is now called "maine coon" .

Here is what the maine coon cat looks like:

Tabby, the first feline at the White House

Tabby, Abraham Lincoln's cat had his own table at dinners . Seated comfortably in his personal seat, he waited wisely that his master would feed him ... with a golden fork! Being the first feline in the White House, it still deserves a little gratification!

Churchill and his Jock lineage

If Churchill had many cats in his life, including Cat and Nelson, only one in decades: Jock, a red-haired cat. Obviously, this is not an eternal cat, Jock was only 2 years old when Churchill died. The animal remained in the Chartwell family residence until his death. When the owner had bequeathed the large house to the National Trust, a condition had to be respected: that at Chartwell there should always be a red cat, possibly with a bib and white socks, named Jock. In 2015, it was Jock VI, a former street cat, who lived there.

Marion, the cat who invented the theory of universal attraction

Contrary to what one may think, it is not to an apple, fallen on Isaac Newton's head that one owes the theory of earthly attraction, but rather to Marion, the cat of the scientist fallen from Apple tree. In short, at that moment, Newton questions himself: and why does the moon not fall? Thus was born the theory of universal attraction . Marion was also the instigator of another famous invention: the cat flap. She who loved to go in and out of the house was delighted when master made a hole in the door.

Felicette, the first cat in space

Or rather the first pussy! After numerous tests on different cats of gutters, only two felines remain in the running to travel in space: Felix and Félicette. But Felix escapes and Felicette is then designated to fly towards the stars in the capsule of the Veronica rocket. After a 10-minute journey into space, Felicette returns home alive and under the control of the Center for Aeronautical Medicine Education and Research.

To read: 100 cats who made history, by Dorica Lucaci at Éditions de l'Opportun, 12,90 €