Mind-Benders of Christian History
Charlemagne kept an elephant sent from Baghdad
In 802 an elephant named Abul-Abbas arrived at Charlemagne's court at Aachen — a diplomatic gift from the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, delivered after a years-long overland and sea journey. The animal lived with the Frankish court until it died in 810.
How we know
Abul-Abbas, gift of Harun al-Rashid to Charlemagne; landed at Porto Venere Oct 801, reached Aachen 20 July 802, died 810; recorded in the Carolingian Annales regni Francorum and Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni. Species (Asian vs. African) is contested in modern scholarship — no primary source identifies it directly (Wikipedia: Abul-Abbas; Saudi Aramco World, vol. 28 no. 1, 1977).
One of many fact-checked wonders across eight traditions at The Spring of Wisdom.