Cats and dogs were among some of the earliest animals to be adopted into human society, and while we definitely keep them mostly for fluffy cuddles these days, there was a time when these animals actually served some pretty important functions. Dogs were awesome at alerting us to danger and also helping us hunt, while cats were incredibly useful for pest control near granaries and silos where excess food was stored.

Admittedly, that's a huge oversimplification of how cats became one of man's closest companions. The actual process was definitely a lot more complex and featured several twists of fate/evolution that aren't immediately obvious from a surface-level view. This Tumblr thread, however, goes DEEP into the fascinating history of how it came to happen as well the varying schools of thought around it. It's definitely a fascinating read, whether you're a history buff, a cat lover, both, or none of the above.