POP QUIZ! What are the cats 'Unsinkable Sam' & 'Hamilton the Hipster' Famous For?

You’ve heard of Christopher Columbus, but have you heard of Unsinkable Sam?

You know the look of ‘Movember’, but have you heard of the cat who OWNS the hipster moustache better than most? 

Grumpy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is arguably the most famous of the seven, but have you heard of Grumpy the Cat?

History, ancient and modern, has had its share of famous cats with stories worth telling. Lets’ look at four of these furry felines and their interesting storylines that helped them become famous little stars.

Unsinkable Sam

Name: Oskar or “Unsinkable Sam”

Claim to Fame: He survived three ship wrecks

His story: Oskar was a ship’s cat in the German Royal Navy that survived three ship wrecks in 1941: The German battleship Bismarck, the British destroyer HMS Cossack, and the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. The HMS Ark Royal was torpedoed and sank near Gibraltar. They found Oskar floating on a plank and rescued him, realizing he was formally a black cat on the Bismarck and also had been rescued from the HMS Cossack. I would say Unsinkable Sam is really taking advantage of his nine lives.

Grumpy Cat

Name: Tardar Sauce or ‘Grumpy Cat’

Claim to Fame: Looking grumpy

Her Story: Tardar Sauce or Grumpy Cat was born April 4^th, 2012 and became an internet sensation due to her permanent grumpy expression caused by feline dwarfism and an underbite. Her owner was Tabatha Bundesen and as of July 2025, Grumpy Cat has 8.3 million total likes on Facebook, 2.6 million followers on Instagram, 1.5 million followers on X (formally Twitter), and 276,000 subscribers on Youtube.  Sadly, Grumpy Cat passed away on May 14, 2019 from a urinary tract infection. Grumpy Cat still makes us all smile with her absolute cuteness and you can follow her on Instagram @realgrumpycat and enjoy all of her grumpy expressions.

Mrs. Norris

Name: Alanis, Pebbles, Maximus, and Cornilus

Claim to Fame: Acting in the Harry Potter Series

Their Story: Mrs. Norris was the pet cat of Argus Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was played by 4 different Maine Coons, three who were feral cats, rescued and then adopted after the films. She had bulging yellow, lamp-like eyes, a scrawny, skeletal body and dust-coloured fur. The four cats were used in different scenes, depending on what they were looking for. Need Mrs. Norris to stay still? Alanis was their girl. Need her to jump onto Argus Filch’s shoulders? Maximus was the best. Pebbles was used for walking scenes and Cornilus for looking around. All together, these four cuties really created a star character in Mrs. Norris.

"Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later."

— Mrs Norris's close relationship with her master

Hamilton the Hipster Cat

Name: Hamilton or ‘Hammy’

Claim to Fame: His adorable hipster mustache

His Story: Hamilton was adopted from the humane society, but was originally found in a feral cat colony and was quite anxious. But as soon as his soon-to-be owner met him, he knew they would be connected forever. It took a while for his owner to settle him, but they are now happily living in San Francisco together. Hamilton has almost 700,000 followers on Instagram and is a poster child for the importance of adoption when it comes to owning cats!