Pigeon Racing - From Boston to London - 1887
You will learn from the article below that a fellow released some pigeons on a Tuesday morning in Forest, Ontario and one of them had arrived back home in Boston by Thursday afternoon. That beat the record from the year before, when a pigeon from London took a bit longer to fly back to Boston.
There are still likely many pigeons racing to and from London. Back in the 1970s the baby sitter who took care of a bunch of our kids up around UWO had a husband who had a loft in the backyard and he frequently let the residents loose to race.
Even those who are more aristocratic can be interested in pigeons. This picture is from a British Pathé film which can be watched by clicking on this link: "The Guiding Princess (1943)." (1:36)
The Canadian Racing Pigeon Union has produced a good "Short History of Pigeon Racing." There are around 20,000 registered pigeon lofts in North America.
A thorough and much longer article is found in Wikipedia under "Homing Pigeon."
The Bonus: There were once also Passenger Pigeons.
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