18/12/2024
Born as a monkey but lived as a mechanic 🛠️
Jack was a baboon who worked for the South African Railways between 1881 and 1890. He was paid twenty cents a day and half a bottle of beer a week. Throughout his service, Jack the baboon made no mistakes.
He was a colleague of James Wade, a paraplegic railway signalman who had lost both his legs in an accident. James trained Jack to assist him in his daily tasks. Over time, the baboon became able to operate the railway signals under supervision.
He showed remarkable accuracy and Jack's reputation grew due to his reliability. During his nine years of service, he never failed in his job. When Jack the monkey died in 1890, his skull was preserved in a museum called the Albany in Grahamstown, South Africa, in recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the railway system.
