In 1943, a pigeon named G.I. Joe saved the lives of over 1,000 people in a small Italian village by delivering a message that the town was scheduled to be bombarded by allied forces -- thus allowing time for a full evacuation. Two years later, a hit movie entitled The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) was released about the life of war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Finally, in 1964, looking for a male action figure to match the success of their Barbie doll, Hasbro introduced the G.I. Joe doll, a military-themed action figure. Was he named after the pigeon or the movie? Well ... the pigeon did come first!