Tycho Brahe and his elk
The life of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, who is frequently regarded as the best observational astronomer of the pretelescopic era, was quite colorful and very interesting as well. He got into a fight over a mathematical formula and lost his nose.
He was the caregiver of Jepp, a psychic dwarf. If this wasn’t enough, he adopted an elk for a pet—some sources claim it was a moose that was its companion to all banquets and feasts.
Sadly, during one of these feasts, the elk consumed too much beer and fell down the castle stairs, killing it.
Lord Byron and his bear
If Brahe seemed to have an acquired taste when it came to pets, how do you feel about Lord Byron, who decided to adopt a bear as a pet?
One of the greatest poets in English history and a key figure in the Romantic movement, Lord Byron was widely known for being eccentric and flamboyant.
In the early 1800s, he was told that he could not keep his pet dog while attending Trinity College in Cambridge because dogs were not permitted on campus.
He wouldn’t want to let the situation be like this, so what did he do? Since there were no laws prohibiting the keeping of such an animal, he went out and got himself a tame bear.
He even attempted to enroll the bear as a student, but the application was denied, and he would take it for walks around the college grounds. Indeed, this one is among the most unusual pets in history!
Josephine Bonaparte and her orangutan
Of all the historical figures, we couldn’t overlook Josephine, Napoleon Bonaparte’s first wife, who also had an odd taste in pets.
An orangutan that was treated like a human was her personal favorite. The orangutan was allowed to eat with them! Naturally, the animal was dressed in a white shirt to impress the guests, who also liked the animal due to its wonderful behavior.
Besides the orangutan, she also owned a dog and some unusual pets, a flock of exotic birds.
