Abraha

Abraha was the Abyssinian governor of Yemen who marched on Makkah with war elephants to destroy the Ka'bah in the Year of the Elephant, the year the Prophet ﷺ was born. He had built a magnificent cathedral in Yemen to draw the Arabs away from the Ka'bah, and swore to destroy the House after it was defiled. Near Makkah he seized Abd al-Muttalib's camels and scorned him for asking only for them, but Abd al-Muttalib replied that the House had a Lord who would protect it. The elephant refused to advance, and Allah sent birds with stones that destroyed his army, as Surah al-Fil describes; Abraha died on the way back to Yemen.