In the 1930s, a white male cat named Napoleon lived with his owner in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. His observant owner, Mrs. de Shields, noted that every time before it rained Napoleon would lie on the floor with his front paws extended and would tuck his head between them.

During Napoleon's lifetime there was a drought. The drought had continued for over a month when his owner noticed the clever cat adopt his "rain on the way" pose. According to the official forecast the weather was to continue dry. Unconvinced, Mrs. de Shields telephoned a newspaper and told them that it was going to rain -- her cat had prophesied it. It did indeed rain, and thereafter Napoleon's forecasts were published in the paper.

When he died, the tombstone over his grave was inscribed "Napoleon the Weather Prophet 1917--1936." It was said that in all the six years that he made his predictions he never got it wrong -- which is more than can be said for human meteorologists!