Mickey the Firehouse Cat

Mickey was just a kitten when he was abandoned at Fire Station #10 in Minneapolis. He made friends with all the firemen, and learned to slide down the fire pole, which got him in to a newsreel and made him nationally famous. Before you try to teach your cat to slide down a pole, you need to know that the stunt was the cause of Mickey's death a year after the film was made, when the cat didn't quite latch onto the pole during his last slide. The firemen held a funeral for him, and he was buried in his tiny fireman's hat. (via Strange Company)