Famous Animal Gravesites Around the World
It's not just Kentucky Derby winners that are buried with great honor
- By Robin T. Reid
- Smithsonian.com, April 28, 2010
(Popperfoto / Getty Images)
Yuri Gagarin lost out to a chimp.
The Soviet astronaut who was the first man in space actually was the second upright hominid to make the jaunt. First place went to a 37-and-a-half-pound, well-tempered chimpanzee named HAM. He went into space January 31, 1961, as an integral part of NASA’s Project Mercury and spent what was no doubt a harrowing 16 minutes 36 seconds there before splashing down in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida.
“By the time the recovery choppers showed up to lift the craft out of the waves, it was on its side, filled with so much water they had a sputtering, choking, near-drowned chimp on their hands,” wrote astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Malcoln McConnell in Men From Earth.
HAM was a survivor, however. Born in July 1956, he was caught by trappers in his native Cameroon and sent to a farm in Florida. The U.S. Air Force bought the chimp three years later and took him to Holloman Aerospace Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where he was used to study how animals might handle space exploration. He was named after the center—an acronym that also fit his personality.
His space days behind him, HAM spent the rest of his life at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and the North Carolina Zoo. After he died in 1983, his remains were sent back to Alamogordo and were interred at the New Mexico Museum of Space History. His marker reads, “HAM proved mankind could live and work in space.”
Comments (13)
The title has no relationship to the results shown. It’s so National Geographic in that it appeals to kids. Going farther, I find this totally disrespectful to the locations that have monuments and histories equal to and in many cases beyond the ones represented here. Animals deserve respect. Obviously this is not well thought out at all. The issue here lends itself to marginalizing all the information presented at this site. That is not good, unless of course it is your intention. I can not solve this problem for you. [Looks at posting rules to see if I have violated threatening/ offensive/ whatever]
Posted by l k lietner on August 5,2012 | 06:36 PM
Im a proud owner of a retired race horse named Coker Road who is a descendant of the great Man o War! Coker raced 40 races and pursed $50,000. He has been trained and shown in jumping. Now he is my friend and trail riding partner :D. He is chestnut with three white socks and a blaze and is currently age 11. I LOVE HIM!
Posted by Phylis on June 9,2012 | 06:02 AM
He is such a hero!
Posted by George Smoe on February 15,2011 | 08:57 AM
Strolling Jim, Tennessee's first grand champion walking horse in 1938, is buried "quietly" at Wartrace, Tenn., the cradle of Tennessee Walking Horse Country.
Shaker's Shocker, who carried the first woman, Betty Sain, to win the breed's biggest Celebration in 1966, is buried in the rolling hills of Middle Tennessee about five miles from Strolling Jim's grave...
Posted by Dan Whittle on February 7,2011 | 06:47 AM
Can we please stop calling yellow labs "golden"?
Posted by Lauren on July 2,2010 | 04:49 PM
This website is cool and i love animals lol i think they are soooo cute ;]
Posted by leela on May 17,2010 | 11:56 AM
Hachiko, who faithfully waited for his owner every day at the Shibuya train station for 9 years after his death, died on March 8, 1935. His stuffed remains are mounted at the National Science Museum of Japan in Ueno,Tokyo. He has become an international symbol of loyalty.
Posted by Mariam Arthur on May 15,2010 | 10:08 PM
Smokey the Bear in Capitan, New Mexico. Originally rescued as a cub (1950), became famous as "posterboy" in campaign against forest fires, lived at the National Zoo in Washington DC, returned to Lincoln National Forest for burial after his death in 1976.
Posted by Mariam Arthur on May 15,2010 | 09:59 PM
Where was Smokey the Bear???
Smokey was/is truly an American Icon and has one of the most touching stories of survival and the human impact on nature.
Posted by Tara on May 14,2010 | 04:15 PM
No GREYFRIARS BOBBY?? For Shame.
Posted by Ken David on May 3,2010 | 01:24 PM
she has days to live
Posted by naveenchilakapati on May 3,2010 | 11:25 AM
the world first creation first went into space great.
Posted by naveenchilakapati on May 3,2010 | 11:22 AM
A tiny cub in 1959 and about 5 years old when she died in 1961...
Don't mind placing this comment, just remove the error please.
Posted by Auke on April 30,2010 | 03:01 PM