Of all the historical animals on this list, I have a favorite, and it's Unsinkable Sam. Although reports about the veracity of Sam's existence are a bit debated, the official story is that he managed to survive, unaccountably, the torpedoing of three different warships from both sides of the conflict in World War II in 1941, with no apparent injuries. The first was the German battleship Bismarck, sunk in May; the second was the British destroyer Cossack, sunk in October; and the third was the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, sunk in November. Each time, the black and white cat was found on floating debris and rescued. With British understatement, he was described on his last rescue as "angry but quite unharmed." As you would be. He was then kept on dry land, where he lived until 1955. (Note: we don't have a picture of Unsinkable Sam, but I feel this one captures his spirit.)