From the Sept. 12, 2011, Listverse. I'm just listing their names. If you want to find out how they died, go to the Listverse site.
10. Abul Abbas
9. Old Bet (2nd elephant in the Americas)
8. Caston
7. Pollux
6. Jumbo (gave name to big-size)
5. Topsy
4. Mary
3. Black Diamond
2. Hanno
1. Tyke
Big-Size. --Cooter
Showing posts with label elephants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elephants. Show all posts
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Back to the Elephants
From Wikipedia.
Probably the most famous elephant ever was Jumbo, born in 1861 in the French Sudan in Africa. His name came from a variation of Swahili words jumbo meaning hello and jumbe meaning chief. And he was a BIG elephant. His name is today commonly used to describe something very large.
Eventually, Jumbo stood at 10.7 feet and an estimated 13.1 feet at the time of his death..
He was at a British zoo before being sold to Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1882 for $10,000 and was a show stopper for many years.
After his death in St. Thomas, Ontario when he was hit by a locomotive, his body was put on display before it was destroyed by fire in 1975. His ashes were placed in a 14 ounce box of Peter Pan Crunch Peanut Butter.
Another elephant named Jumbo was used by John Hoyle to cross the Alps following Hannibal's trek in 1957.
One Big Elephant. --DaCoot
Probably the most famous elephant ever was Jumbo, born in 1861 in the French Sudan in Africa. His name came from a variation of Swahili words jumbo meaning hello and jumbe meaning chief. And he was a BIG elephant. His name is today commonly used to describe something very large.
Eventually, Jumbo stood at 10.7 feet and an estimated 13.1 feet at the time of his death..
He was at a British zoo before being sold to Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1882 for $10,000 and was a show stopper for many years.
After his death in St. Thomas, Ontario when he was hit by a locomotive, his body was put on display before it was destroyed by fire in 1975. His ashes were placed in a 14 ounce box of Peter Pan Crunch Peanut Butter.
Another elephant named Jumbo was used by John Hoyle to cross the Alps following Hannibal's trek in 1957.
One Big Elephant. --DaCoot
Monday, May 23, 2011
Ten Things You Might Not Know About Elephants-- Part 4
8. AN ELEPHANT PARADE OF ONE-- When the Lincoln Park Zoo acquired Judy from the Brookfield Zoo in 1943, the 35-year-old elephant refused to ride in a flatbed truck, so she walked the 18 miles to her new home.
She received a zoo staff and motorcycle cop escort and set off at 7 pm, resting two hours in Garfield Park before arriving at Lincoln Park at 2:15 am.
I guess she was doing her part for the war effort and saving gasoline.
9. "DUMBO, THE FLYING ELEPHANT"-- Walt Disney bought the rights to "Dumbo" from husband-and-wife team Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, for $1,000. The original was published as a rare roll-a-book (picture book on a scroll). The movie was released in 1941. Old Walt sure made a good profit on that purchase.
This was the film the Army general wanted to see in the hilarious movie "1941."
10. ALDERMAN "BATHHOUSE JOHN" COGHLIN, one of Chicago's most corrupt and colorful politicians, bought a Lincoln Park elephant named Princess Alice for a reported $3,000 around 1905 and shipped it off to his private zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Another fine and well-researched job by Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer.
And That's the Trunk of It. --Cooter
She received a zoo staff and motorcycle cop escort and set off at 7 pm, resting two hours in Garfield Park before arriving at Lincoln Park at 2:15 am.
I guess she was doing her part for the war effort and saving gasoline.
9. "DUMBO, THE FLYING ELEPHANT"-- Walt Disney bought the rights to "Dumbo" from husband-and-wife team Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, for $1,000. The original was published as a rare roll-a-book (picture book on a scroll). The movie was released in 1941. Old Walt sure made a good profit on that purchase.
This was the film the Army general wanted to see in the hilarious movie "1941."
10. ALDERMAN "BATHHOUSE JOHN" COGHLIN, one of Chicago's most corrupt and colorful politicians, bought a Lincoln Park elephant named Princess Alice for a reported $3,000 around 1905 and shipped it off to his private zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Another fine and well-researched job by Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer.
And That's the Trunk of It. --Cooter
Friday, May 20, 2011
Ten Things You Might Not Know About Elephants-- Part 3
By the way, I strongly recommend seeing the movie "Water for Elephants."
5. For both African and Asian elephants, PREGNANCY lasts about 22 months. Because of gestation and lactation time, a female elephant may have only six offspring her entire life.
6. DANGER!!-- Sexually mature males go through periodic states known as musth, in which they produce high levels of testosterone. They are extremely dangerous and aggressive during this time and secrete a foul-smelling liquid from a gland behind their eyes.
7. A horrific example of ANIMAL CRUELTY occurred in Erwin, Tennessee, in 1916. A trainer with a traveling circus was killed by a five-ton elephant named Mary, Circus owners were afraid other towns might cancel the show so they took Mary to a rail yard and hanged her by the neck from a crane in front of 2,500 spectators, many of them children.
The first attempt failed when Mary's weight snapped a chain, causing her to fall and break her hip. A second attempt succeeded. She was buried in a grave dug by a steam shovel.
Look up "Mary elephant" in Wikipedia for more information and a photo of the hanging.
Got Peanuts? --Cooter
5. For both African and Asian elephants, PREGNANCY lasts about 22 months. Because of gestation and lactation time, a female elephant may have only six offspring her entire life.
6. DANGER!!-- Sexually mature males go through periodic states known as musth, in which they produce high levels of testosterone. They are extremely dangerous and aggressive during this time and secrete a foul-smelling liquid from a gland behind their eyes.
7. A horrific example of ANIMAL CRUELTY occurred in Erwin, Tennessee, in 1916. A trainer with a traveling circus was killed by a five-ton elephant named Mary, Circus owners were afraid other towns might cancel the show so they took Mary to a rail yard and hanged her by the neck from a crane in front of 2,500 spectators, many of them children.
The first attempt failed when Mary's weight snapped a chain, causing her to fall and break her hip. A second attempt succeeded. She was buried in a grave dug by a steam shovel.
Look up "Mary elephant" in Wikipedia for more information and a photo of the hanging.
Got Peanuts? --Cooter
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Ten Things You Might Not Know About Elephants-- Part 2
3. ELEPHANTS IN OPERA?-- Giuseppe Verdi's "Alda." Before soprano Maria Callas lost weight, a critic quipped that "it was difficult to discern Callas' ankles from those of the elephant..." Another quip at heft contralto Marietta Alboni went "the elephant that swallowed a nightingale."
4. JUMBO--The word jumbo might not have originated with the massive elephant in the Barnum and Bailey Circus, but he definitely popularized it. He was a huge draw in more ways than one. he was killed in 1885 by a train in St. Thomas, Ontario (Railway City Brewing in that town makes a beer called Dead Elephant Ale).
Jumbo's stuffed body toured for four years after that until given to Tufts University where he became the school's mascot.
Big Enough for You? --Cooter
4. JUMBO--The word jumbo might not have originated with the massive elephant in the Barnum and Bailey Circus, but he definitely popularized it. He was a huge draw in more ways than one. he was killed in 1885 by a train in St. Thomas, Ontario (Railway City Brewing in that town makes a beer called Dead Elephant Ale).
Jumbo's stuffed body toured for four years after that until given to Tufts University where he became the school's mascot.
Big Enough for You? --Cooter
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Ten Things You Might Not Know About Elephants-- Part 1
Yesterday, I finally got to see the current movie "Water for Elephants." I had tried one time before when it was first released, but the theatre was overrun by old folks (like me). I don't like crowds, so left.
Excellent movie and I think it should receive nominations for an Academy Award (but probably released too early).
The May 15th Chicago Tribune had one of their excellent "Ten Things You Didn't Know" articles on elephants because of the movie. As usual, Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer do a great job.
1. African and Asian elephants (Rosie, from the movie, was an Asian). The African savanna elephant is taller and heavier, has bigger ears and a concave back. The Asian's trunk ends with just one lip. The Asian has one pair fewer ribs, but more toenails and are hairier, as they are more closely related to the extinct woolly mammoth.
2. Duchess, Lincoln Park Zoo's first elephant, once escaped in October 1892, she ran through a pond before leaving the grounds at what is now about Clark and what is now Dickens. During her rampage, she demolished the door to the Bartholome & Leicht's Brewing Co.'s saloon, wreaked havoc inside Griesbach's Saloon and killed a horse. She was chased down by zookeepers, residents and police after plunging through wooden sidewalk boards along Cleveland Avenue. Zookeepers finally stopped her by getting ropes around her legs and tying her to trees.
I imagine those folks in the bars really thought they were seeing things, "Honey, you'll never guess what I saw today at Griesbach's." "And, just how much did you have to drink?"
I Know Rosie Was Fond of Whiskey in a Bucket. Duchess Probably Ordered a Pink Elephant. --Cooter
Excellent movie and I think it should receive nominations for an Academy Award (but probably released too early).
The May 15th Chicago Tribune had one of their excellent "Ten Things You Didn't Know" articles on elephants because of the movie. As usual, Mark Jacob and Stephan Benzkofer do a great job.
1. African and Asian elephants (Rosie, from the movie, was an Asian). The African savanna elephant is taller and heavier, has bigger ears and a concave back. The Asian's trunk ends with just one lip. The Asian has one pair fewer ribs, but more toenails and are hairier, as they are more closely related to the extinct woolly mammoth.
2. Duchess, Lincoln Park Zoo's first elephant, once escaped in October 1892, she ran through a pond before leaving the grounds at what is now about Clark and what is now Dickens. During her rampage, she demolished the door to the Bartholome & Leicht's Brewing Co.'s saloon, wreaked havoc inside Griesbach's Saloon and killed a horse. She was chased down by zookeepers, residents and police after plunging through wooden sidewalk boards along Cleveland Avenue. Zookeepers finally stopped her by getting ropes around her legs and tying her to trees.
I imagine those folks in the bars really thought they were seeing things, "Honey, you'll never guess what I saw today at Griesbach's." "And, just how much did you have to drink?"
I Know Rosie Was Fond of Whiskey in a Bucket. Duchess Probably Ordered a Pink Elephant. --Cooter
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