Dogs that have made history.

Dogs that have made history.
They helped medicine cure diseases, became millionaire stars, and even went into space. Meet the most famous dogs of all time.
He has been to the ruins of Machu Picchu, been to the Great Wall of China, sailed down the Amazon River, flown hang-gliders in Rio de Janeiro, and enjoyed the waters of the Trevi Fountain in Rome. During eight months in 2009, the mutt Oscar and his tutor, Joanne Lefson, traveled through 42 countries and visited more than 60 animal protection organizations. The journey, recorded on social networks, intended to draw attention to the abandoned dogs around the world - a number that borders the 500 million. Oscar, by the way, was one of them. He was living in a shelter in Cape Town, South Africa, when Joanne adopted him.
By becoming the most traveled dog on the planet, Oscar also earned a reputation as an international ambassador for homeless dogs. In 2013, he died when he was hit by a car, but his story became a book: Ahound the World: My Travels with Oscar.
A former golfer and nature lover, Joanne leads animal defense projects. In one of them, she took Rupee, a Labrador that used to scavenge dumps in Ladakh, India, to venture to the Everest base camp - located 5 thousand meters above sea level. The press reported the fact as if they had climbed the almost 9,000 meters of the highest mountain in the world - something improbable for a dog. But this does not take away the value of Joanne's struggle.
Several dogs were already notable for their feats long before the Internet came along. One of them was Smoky. The little yorkshire saved the lives of 250 American soldiers in World War II. Her mission was relatively simple - but only she could do it: to carry telephone cables through cramped pipes to connect groups of soldiers surrounded by Nazis.

In 1957, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev wanted to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the communist revolution with an impressive feat: send a dog into Earth orbit to test how a living thing would tolerate zero gravity. The selection included more than 20 abandoned dogs - the purebreds were considered incapable of withstanding extreme situations.
Laika weighed 6 kg and had to be accommodated in a capsule the size of a washing machine. Inside, there was an automatic feeder that released feed to the puppy. Laika had sensors on her body to measure her vital signs. Sputnik 2 was launched on November 3. In the following days, Soviet newspapers carried reports about the mission and the health of Laika, who seemed to be doing well. A week later, however, her death was reported, causing outrage worldwide.
Another US hero of the war was Chips. A mix of collie, German shepherd, and husky, the dog single-handedly surrendered four Italian army snipers. They had set up a camouflaged bunker on a beach in Sicily, Italy. When they emerged from the ground and began firing at an American platoon, Chips broke away from his guardian and jumped into the fake bunker. He was grazed in the head, but then ran into the soldiers. He even attacked the throat of one of them. The four Italians left the guardhouse with their hands up.
Among the soccer shoes and shirts worn by stars like Maradona and Pelé is a dog's collar. The red leather piece, with two little medals on the end, is an attraction in the biggest soccer museum on the planet - the National Football Museum, in Manchester, England. The item belonged to border collie Pickles, who found the Jules Rimet Cup - the trophy given to the winner of the World Cup until 1970.
In March 1966, the cup had been stolen from an exhibition. Pickles found it a week later, wrapped in a newspaper, while walking with its owner through a London park. Brazil got the Jules Rimet permanently when they won the World Cup for the third time in 1970. Today, however, the country only has a replica of the cup. The original was stolen again in 1983. And then, no dog could find it.