Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: it's Christians Zeger. Here. You may have met a furry ace, bandit,
Speaker 1: Jack or Sparky, but the chance of being introduced to
Speaker 1: a Fido are much much lower these days. Fido doesn't
Speaker 1: even make the top one hundred, but the once popular
Speaker 1: name for male dogs has become a generic shorthand for
Speaker 1: dog itself. So just why is the dog name Fido
Speaker 1: such a part of the American lexicon. Well, the credit
Speaker 1: goes to Abraham Lincoln, America's sixteenth president. Before he was
Speaker 1: commander in chief and still lived in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln's
Speaker 1: household included several dogs and cats. One particularly therapeutic dog
Speaker 1: was Fido, a mixed breed dog of yellow hue whose
Speaker 1: name is Latin for faithful. Fido became Lincoln's near constant
Speaker 1: companion about five years for the then lawyer became president.
Speaker 1: According to the Presidential Pet Museum, Fido enjoyed scraps from
Speaker 1: Lincoln's plate at meals, patiently waited outside the barbershop or
Speaker 1: any other establishment Lincoln patronized, and generally became well known
Speaker 1: as a good natured dog around town. In eighteen sixty three,
Speaker 1: as he prepared to move to the White House, it
Speaker 1: became apparent that Fido was a little too friendly and
Speaker 1: perhaps ill mannered for high office. In fact, a nineteen
Speaker 1: fifty four profile of Fido published in Life magazine called
Speaker 1: him a frisky mongrel. To ensure Fido had a good
Speaker 1: life back in Springfield, Lincoln decided to have a local
Speaker 1: carpenter and his family take care of Fido, leaving them
Speaker 1: detailed instructions for the dog's proper care and spoiling. Fido
Speaker 1: was never to be chided for having muddy pause in
Speaker 1: the house, and he was to be given scraps from
Speaker 1: the table at meal time. To help soothe the sense
Speaker 1: of loss, Lincoln had Fido's formal portrait taken with the
Speaker 1: relatively new photographic technology, or so the story goes, Regardless
Speaker 1: of its providence, the photo made its way into numerous newspapers,
Speaker 1: and shortly thereafter Fido, both the dog and the name
Speaker 1: skyrocketed in popularity. The name's meteoric rise continued during Lincoln's
Speaker 1: presidency and was further fueled by his assassination in eighteen
Speaker 1: sixty five. As mourners flocked to Springfield for the President's funeral,
Speaker 1: the carpenter returned to Lincoln's home with Fido and let
Speaker 1: the morning public meet the dog. Justice Fido's master was
Speaker 1: killed by another man, so too did Fido meet an
Speaker 1: unfortunate end at the hands of another In eighteen sixty six,
Speaker 1: a year after Lincoln's assassination, Fido, ever the trusting and
Speaker 1: people loving dog, came across a man apparently sleeping on
Speaker 1: a sidewalk. Fido started to lick the man's face, which
Speaker 1: prompted the man, who was drunk at the time, to
Speaker 1: awaken panic and pull a knife at the sight of
Speaker 1: the dog's mouth so close to his face, stabbing Fido
Speaker 1: in self defense. With the popularity of the name peeking
Speaker 1: in the late eighteen hundreds, Fido made its way into
Speaker 1: the public consciousness during an era when mass media was
Speaker 1: taking hold in the country, and remained there for years
Speaker 1: to come. While Fido met a tragic end, his name
Speaker 1: lives on in popular culture, signifying the platonic ideal of
Speaker 1: a friendly, faithful hoop. Today's episode was written by Laurie L. Dove,
Speaker 1: produced by Dylan Fagan, and for more on this and
Speaker 1: other topics, please visit us at how Stuff works dot com,