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40 Animals that Changed History

Tim Flight November 5, 2019 26 min

Medieval Dogs - Dog — King John of England with his dogs, England, c.1307-27. British Library

32. In 1925, a dog named Balto saved the city of Nome, Alaska from diphtheria

Balto with Gunnar Kaasen, c.1925. Wikimedia Commons

In January 1925, doctors in the isolated Alaskan city of Nome saw signs of an impending diphtheria outbreak. The nearest anti-diphtheria serum was 500 miles away in Anchorage. At the heart of winter, getting the serum seemed all but impossible. In such thick snow, only sled dogs could make the journey. Volunteers set up a relay of sled teams to make the journey as quick as possible, called the ‘Great Race of Mercy‘. The final stage of the journey saw Gunnar Kaasen and his lead dog, Balto, arrive in Nome in the nick of time, saving the city from deadly disease.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk