( LifeWire ) -- Fifty years ago this Saturday , Laika -- a sweet-tempered stray plucked off the streets of Moscow -- was thrust into the global spotlight when she became the first living creature sent into space . A Newfoundland , like this champion named Josh , saved the life of Napoleon Bonaparte . When Sputnik 2 's canine passenger ( nicknamed `` Muttnik '' by the media ) hit orbit , the Soviet Union grabbed the edge over the U.S. in the space race , a crux of competition during the Cold War . Sadly , Laika 's history-making voyage ended prematurely : In their rush to be first , Soviet scientists had made no provisions for her safe return . `` She died before reaching orbit , and before any real data was gleaned about sustaining life in that environment , '' says Dr. Stanley Coren , professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia and author of `` The Pawprints of History : Dogs and the Course of Human Events . '' But if little scientific knowledge was gleaned from Laika 's journey , her mark on world events is undeniable . `` We were behind the Russians , '' says Coren . `` The U.S. quickly switched focus to putting a living being on the moon . '' Laika is just one of the many canines to have left a furry legacy behind . Coren names 10 other dogs and the roles they played in history . Nos . 1 and 2 . Strelka and Belka 's successful orbit . Laika was the first dog sent into space , but Strelka ( Little Arrow ) and Belka ( Squirrel ) -- launched on Sputnik 5 in 1960 for a one-day mission -- were the first to return alive . As a result , much more was learned from their mission . Strelka later gave birth to a litter of puppies , one of which , Pushinka , was given to President John F. Kennedy 's daughter , Caroline . No . 3 . How Peritas saved civilization . Without his dog , Peritas , Alexander the Great might have been Alexander the So-So . When the warrior was swarmed by the troops of Persia 's Darius III , Peritas leapt and bit the lip of an elephant charging his master . Alexander lived to pursue his famed conquest , forging the empire underlying Western civilization as we know it . No . 4 . Charlie , Kennedy 's Cuban Missile Crisis companion . At the height of 1962 's Cuban missile crisis , President Kennedy had his son 's Welsh terrier Charlie summoned to the chaotic War Room . The president held the terrier in his lap , petting him and appearing , by all accounts , to relax . Eventually he announced that he was ready to `` make some decisions '' -- those that de-escalated the conflict . No . 5 . Jofi , the first therapy dog . Sigmund Freud usually kept a chow named Jofi in his office during psychotherapy sessions , believing the dog comforted the patients . Freud 's notes on these interactions , detailed in his diaries , form the basis of modern-day pet-assisted therapy . Dog returned to fire victims » . No . 6 . Urian bites Pope , separates church and state . Henry VIII sent Cardinal Wolsey to meet with Pope Clement VII , hoping the pontiff would grant the ruler an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon . When the pope extended his bare toe to be kissed ( as was the custom ) by Wolsey , the Cardinal 's dog , Urian , sprang forward and bit the pope . Clement flew into a rage , the divorce was off and Henry -- to ensure the annulment the Catholic Church refused to grant -- later established the Church of England . No . 7 . Newfoundland saves Napoleon . Napoleon Bonaparte owed his life to a nameless Newfoundland . As Bonaparte fled the island of Elba in 1815 , where he was exiled , choppy seas pitched him overboard . A fisherman 's dog jumped in after the drowning despot and kept him afloat . Napoleon lived to experience his own defeat at the Battle of Waterloo . No . 8 . Nixon professes love for Checkers . In his 1952 `` Checkers speech , '' Richard Nixon -- then a candidate for vice president who was accused of pawing $ 18,000 in illegal campaign contributions -- admitted to accepting an American cocker spaniel , Checkers , as a gift . `` And you know , the kids , like all kids , loved the dog , and I just want to say this , right now , that regardless of what they say about it , we are going to keep it , '' Nixon said during his famous speech . His heartfelt proclamation swayed public opinion and prolonged Nixon 's political career . No . 9 . Peps , Wagner 's harshest critic . Without Peps , composer Richard Wagner 's Cavalier King Charles spaniel , that helicopter scene in the film `` Apocalypse Now '' ( scored to `` The Ride of the Valkyries '' ) might sound very different . Wagner would have Peps sit on a special chair as he played his latest compositions and , based upon the dog 's reactions , he 'd keep or toss each passage . No . 10 . Donnchadh and the American Revolution . In 1306 , when Edward I of England sought to bring down Robert the Bruce ( and his ploy to rule Scotland ) , his men used Robert 's own dog , Donnchadh , to find him . Though the animal led them to their target , he then turned and defended his master , who lived to become king of Scotland and produce a daughter who married into the Stuart family . Many generations later , the irrational actions of Robert the Bruce 's direct descendant , King George III , would cause the American colonists to rebel . Modern medicine attributes King George 's apparent madness to porphyria , a genetically transmitted disease that researchers trace back to the Scottish Stuarts . E-mail to a friend . LifeWire provides original and syndicated lifestyle content to Web publishers . E. Bougerol is a writer and editor who lives in New York City .
Several dogs have earned a place in history . A Soviet dog named Boris rode into Russian history . A dog stood between Alexander the Great and a white wolf . A puppy got final approval on a composer 's score .