or
“You might be speaking German if it wasn’t for pigeons”
Originally published May 22, 2013
This post has been re-edited many times and fresh content related to pigeons was added on 5/22/18 which can be found below.
An addendum was added on 5/14/19 with a brief overview of other animals in the military.
Pigeons have been used to communicate over distances since the time of Julius Caesar.
The Persians (now Iran), and even the Greeks used homing pigeons to “broadcast” news about who won the Olympics.