In 1943, Australia tried to win Winston Churchill's favor with a unique wartime gift: a live platypus, named Winston, shipped for 45 days across oceans to London in a custom habitat with 50,000 worms to feed him. The "rare monotreme" was meant to boost diplomatic ties as World War II raged—Churchill was a noted lover of exotic animals—but days before arrival, Winston was found dead in his "platypusary," reports the BBC . To smooth the waters, officials blamed Nazi submarine shocks. The animal was stuffed and displayed in Churchill's office, and rumors of the true cause of Winston's demise swirled...
Monitoring Antisemitism Intel
