Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 111
December 20, 2021
December 19, 2021
December 18, 2021
December 17, 2021
This Hairball is Officially the Guinness World Records™ Title Holder for Largest Ball of Human Hair!
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Thanks to the thousands of people who participated in Ripley’s Shave the Beard and Make it Weird challenge, Hoss the Human Hairball is now recognized by Guinness World Records™ as the Largest Ball of Human Hair!
According to Guinness World Records™, Ripley’s has broken the existing record for Largest Ball of Human Hair ever created by more than 55 pounds! At a record-setting 225.13 pounds, Hoss the Human Hairball has made history with the help of over 3,000 contributors over the years. This year alone, 1,600 people have added a strand, a snippet, or a whole head of hair to Hoss’s massive stature and width.
Prior to this year’s efforts, Hoss traveled around, wheeled from city to city attending conventions, expos, and other events. Volunteers and expo-goers contributed greatly to Hoss by adding their own strands and clippings to this massive hairball.
Thanks to the work of these contributors and the mail-in submissions we received at the Ripley’s Warehouse for Shave the Beard and Make it Weird, Hoss has now far eclipsed the hairballs that came before him. At 4 feet tall and 14 feet wide, he truly is a spectacle worth laying your e̶y̶e̶s̶ hair on.
Shave the Beard and Make it Weird not only helped Ripley’s break a World Record but also raised funds for Give Kids The World Village, a whimsical nonprofit that provides critically ill children and their families with magical weeklong wish vacations.
3 – 2 – 1 – Happy New Year!So what’s next for Hoss? A New Year’s Eve Hairball drop, of course!
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! will drop the 225.13-pound hairball on Facebook Live Friday, December 31, just before midnight EST. Tune in to Ripley’s Facebook on New Year’s Eve to ring in 2022 with Hoss the Human Hairball and follow us on social media to set your reminders!
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: This Hairball is Officially the Guinness World Records™ Title Holder for Largest Ball of Human Hair!
Don We Now Our Dino Apparel: Museum Dresses T. Rex In Giant Sweater
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
London’s Natural History Museum has gone full Clark Griswold with their holiday décor this year, even decking their animatronic Tyrannosaurus rex in an ugly sweater that would make Santa sing “fa-la-la-la-roar!”
While humans and their pets have been getting in on the ugly sweater action for years now, the T. rex‘s tiny arms (and extinction) usually excludes them from the festivities, but not this year! London’s Natural History Museum has given their animatronic dino a Christmas miracle with a sweater fit for a theropod!
As not to offend the joyful giant, who is all too familiar with the repercussions of climate change, the museum collaborated with clothing company British Christmas Jumpers to dress their largest resident with a custom sweater made from 100% recycled materials.
The end design is pretty roar-some, with a blue, red, and green knit and traditional motifs like Christmas trees and snowflakes, as well as a Triceratops print honoring dinos past. Stitched to suit the 40-foot replica’s burly neck and stubby arms, the massive sweater took over 100 hours to complete and had to be zipped up the back to accommodate the robot’s giant head.
“We’ve never done anything like this. My dad’s never done anything like this, and he’s been in the business for 35 to 40 years,” said Snahal Patel, director of British Christmas Jumpers.
Our animatronic T. rex is getting into the Christmas spirit. It’s been kitted out in its very own theropod-size seasonal sweater, made from 100% recycled materials, thanks to @britishxmas.
Get your claws on your own version: https://t.co/p02sVFP2nI#NHMtrexmas pic.twitter.com/ZRhyA0Ubi9
— Natural History Museum (@NHM_London) December 6, 2021
Though there have been reports of a few younger visitors crying upon hearing the motion-activated robot’s roar, most have been delighted by its hilarious get-up, which significantly softens the ferocious creature since it’s dressed more for caroling than a carnivorous feast.
“There is nothing more funny than a jumper fitted for a dinosaur that has the tiniest arms in the world,” said Carla Treasure, the museum’s buyer and product developer. “I think it makes it slightly less scary.”
Treasure was working with Patel to create an eco-friendly sweater for the museum gift shop when Patel was struck with the idea of bringing some cheer to the public after a rough couple of years. It didn’t take much to get the museum’s board of trustees on board, and the rest is prehistoric history.
The sweater will remain on the T. rex until Christmas Eve, after which it will be shredded and repurposed into another product that can be donated to charity.
The theme of this holiday season seems to be the bigger, the better, and you know we couldn’t miss out on the fun! We’ll be ringing in the new year with our very own piece of giant holiday décor, a 225.13-pound ball of human hair named Hoss!
Hoss, the World’s Largest Ball of Human Hair!
Standing at 4 feet tall with a circumference of 14 feet, our latest bundle of joy, Hoss the Human Hairball, has officially achieved the Guinness World Records™ title for the World’s Largest Ball of Human Hair, breaking the previous record by 55 pounds!
Hoss’s fame began in Ohio when stylist Steve Warden began compiling clients’ fallen hair until it reached a 100-pound mass in 2019. Since then, more than 3,000 people have added their own locks to the ball, with over 1,600 donations this year alone!
Most of this furry lump of holiday cheer was contributed during Ripley’s Shave the Beard and Make it Weird campaign, which not only added to Hoss’ hairy endeavor but also raised funds for Give Kids The World Village, a whimsical nonprofit in Central Florida that provides critically ill children and their families with magical weeklong wish vacations..
Get weird with Hoss this New Year’s Eve on Ripley’s Facebook Live, Friday, December 31, right before the clock strikes midnight as he counts us down to 2022!
By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: Don We Now Our Dino Apparel: Museum Dresses T. Rex In Giant Sweater
December 16, 2021
December 15, 2021
10 Facts About Freddie Mercury That Will Rock You
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Best known for his flamboyant stage presence, effervescent personality, and unparalleled vocal ability, Freddie Mercury amazed audiences worldwide as the lead singer of the legendary rock band Queen until his untimely death on November 24, 1991, at the age of 45.
In honor of this unparalleled musician’s legacy, we’re sharing ten unbelievable facts about Mercury’s life that are guaranteed to blow your mind.
Despite being voted the 59th Greatest Briton of All Time, Mercury wasn’t born in Great Britain.Born September 5, 1946, in Stone Town, Zanzibar — now Tanzania — Farrokh Bulsara spent his childhood between Zanzibar and India before immigrating to Middlesex, England, as a teen refugee. He began going by Freddie while in boarding school, eventually changing his name legally to Freddie Mercury after forming the band Queen in 1970.
Freddie Mercury wasn’t the artist’s only moniker, however. A week before Queen’s first album dropped, he released a single under the name Larry Lurex, a personal slight toward English glam rock artist Gary Glitter, of whom he was not a fan. The single bombed.
His famous mouth housed more than teeth than your average singer.Mercury had four extra teeth pushing the rest forward, creating his trademark overbite. Despite being self-conscious about how his teeth looked, he refused to remove them lest it change his famous almost-four-octave vocal range.
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Mercury’s vocal range was so impressive, scientists studied it!In 2016, a European research team set out to find just why Mercury’s voice was so impressive. Using video interviews and acapella tracks to isolate his vocal frequencies and range, they pinpointed that he spoke at a median of 117.3 Hz, with belts ranging from 92.2 Hz to 784 Hz — a range that covers more than 3 octaves!
Though higher and lower notes were also heard in the recordings, the scientists could not distinguish whether the remaining octaves were created by voice or instruments.
Ultimately, it was Mercury’s unique vibrato that set him apart from classically trained singers with the same range, as his vibrato was higher and more irregular, which created a “vocal fingerprint.”
Mercury was a trained artist and even designed the Queen logo.Much like fellow rock legend John Lennon, Freddie Mercury was a trained artist before gaining fame. Armed with a degree in art and graphic design from Ealing Art College, Mercury was more than capable of creating Queen’s branding. Despite not believing in astrology, he used each band member’s zodiac sign to design their emblem, topping it off with a phoenix as a symbol of protection over them all.
He stayed busy while studying at Ealing, making extra cash as a model for life drawing classes. He also started writing “Bohemian Rhapsody” while still in school!
The lions, crab, and fairies represent the band members’ zodiac signs. Stefano Chiacchiarini / Shutterstock.com
Long before teaming up for “Under Pressure,” Mercury worked as a roadie for David Bowie.A man of many side hustles, Mercury inserted himself into the music scene by gigging around town and helping out musicians while he was still in school. One such gig was for David Bowie, who had a lunchtime show at Ealing Art College.
The two would continue to cross paths, first months later after “Space Oddity” was released and Bowie had gained some fame, if not money. He entered a Kensington Market stall where Mercury was working, and Mercury gave him a pair of boots he couldn’t afford.
It took 12 more years for the now-famous friends to get together to create 1981’s “Under Pressure.”
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Mercury once spent a day watching The Golden Girls with Princess Diana before sneaking her into a gay bar.Mercury palled around with the likes of Princess Diana. The duo once spent an afternoon with comedians Cleo Rocos and Kenny Everett watching The Golden Girls on mute, making up their own dialogue before the trio smuggled the Princess for a night out at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern by disguising her with an army jacket, hat, and glasses.
Mercury’s other famous friends included Elton John and Rod Stewart, or as they called each other, Sharon (John), Phyllis (Stewart), and Melina (Mercury). After Mercury’s passing, Elton John received a painting that became one of his most prized possessions with a card that read, “Dear Sharon, I saw this at auction and thought you would love it. I love you, Melina.”
Though known for his outgoing stage presence, Mercury was very shy in private.Mercury’s stage persona was wild, outrageous, and flamboyant, but according to Queen bandmate Roger Taylor, “He was shy, gentle, and kind. He wasn’t the person he put over on stage.” That being said, he did love an epic party.
Notorious for throwing parties that lasted for days on end with dancers, snake charmers, strippers, and illicit substances, Mercury’s parties were so famed that the hotel he celebrated his birthday at in 1987 continues holding a gathering in his honor every year.
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Mercury dedicated his solo album to his beloved cats.Mercury was a known cat lover, having as many as ten at one time, all but one of whom were rescued from shelters. He would frequently call his cats from the road.
Though he enjoyed the presence of all of his cats, he wasn’t shy about which was his favorite — Delilah, whom he loved so much he wrote about her despite her peeing all over his Chippendale suit, as the lyrics go.
As for Tom, Jerry, Oscar, and Tiffany, they earned a dedication in his 1985 solo album, Mr. Bad Guy.
Mercury’s longest and possibly most important relationship was with a woman named Mary Austin.Though he is often labeled and celebrated as an openly gay frontman, Mercury also had many relationships with women over the years. However, no man or woman could ever take the place of Mary Austin, whom he first met in 1969 and would have married if he had not continued to cheat on her during their engagement.
Mercury once described his relationship with Austin as a marriage, saying, “Mary is the only friend I’ve got, and I don’t want anybody else.”
Mary received half of Mercury’s estate when he passed and kept the location of his ashes a guarded secret.
Regardless of his bond with Austin, Mercury’s last partner was Jim Hutton, an Irish hairdresser who, though they could not get married, lived together and showed their love by wearing wedding rings. Hutton documented their relationship in his 1994 memoir, Mercury And Me.
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Mercury announced his AIDS diagnosis the day before he died from the disease.While the date of Mercury’s AIDS diagnosis has not been confirmed, it is widely speculated that it was sometime around 1987 due to his increasingly gaunt appearance and the end of Queen’s touring.
After becoming rather reclusive in the last two years of his life, Mercury released a statement confirming his diagnosis on November 23, 1991 — a day before his death — saying, “I felt it correct to keep this information private in order to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has now come for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth, and I hope everyone will join me, my doctors and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease.”
Mercury’s close friend Dave Clark, of the Dave Clark Five, was alone with Mercury when he passed.
Though Mercury’s announcement sparked outrage amongst many in the community, who believed he could have been critical in raising awareness and funding towards the cause during his life, his death inspired many conversations about HIV and AIDS, resulting in millions raised in his memory.
However, his legacy goes beyond his disease, with his style, creativity, and groundbreaking performances leaving a lasting mark for generations to come.
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By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
December 14, 2021
Salvador Dalí’s Dream State: A Door To Creativity
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Throughout the generations, resourceful geniuses have found strange and unique ways to get the creative juices flowing. For example, Beethoven would stand at his washbasin, pouring large pitchers of water over his hands and singing out loud to develop new symphonic material.
And Thomas Edison famously refused to sleep while a significant discovery was in the works. He would often go 72 hours straight before turning in for some shuteye. Even then, he hypothesized that sleeping represented a “heritage from our cave days,” and he refused to indulge in much more than three hours at a time, per Financial Post.
Great minds of the past knew how to push themselves to their limits to create. But few stumbled across a method that could work for just about anyone. That’s what makes Salvador Dalí’s sleep technique to boost creativity so fascinating. Keep reading to learn more about this method and how you can use it anytime a little inspiration is in order.
Surreal Dream Techniques Revealed
Library of Congress, digital ID ppmsca.09633
Salvador Dalí achieved remarkable fame during his lifetime as a surrealist painter and hung out with fellow artists like René Magritte, Pablo Picasso, and Miró. Among his most recognized works is The Persistence of Memory, painted in 1931 and depicting melting clocks within an eerie, surreal landscape. According to Biography, “By the mid-1930s, Dalí had become as notorious for his colorful personality as his artwork.”
How did Dalí maintain a fresh stream of artistic inspiration throughout his career? One of his favorite techniques involved strategic sleeping. This was an approach also used by Thomas Edison to up his chances of creating something brilliant. The concept involved waking up during the sleep stage where reality starts to blend with fantasy.
Waking Up CreativityTo help Dalí enter the right state when he went to sleep, he would nod off to dreamland while holding a ball or spoon. Then, as Dalí entered unconsciousness, the object would fall from his hand, startling him awake. The surrealist artist would be ideally situated to start working, having spent a few moments on the edge of unconsciousness.
This stage of sleep comes early in the nighttime cycle and is known as the hypnagogic state or N1. Hypnagogia lasts for mere minutes and ends as the sleeper nods off into deeper sleep patterns. That is, unless you can pull a Salvador Dalí and wake up at the ideal moment. If you can catch yourself in the zone, it permits you to imagine colors, shapes, and bits of dreams. You’ll see these images flashing before your eyes while still hearing what’s going on around you.
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Proving Dalí Got It RightTo test how effectively Dalí’s sleep technique works, sleep researcher Delphine Oudiette enlisted 103 recruits for a sleep study. All subjects had to be in excellent health and exhibit the ability to fall asleep quickly. The day before the study, they were asked not to consume any stimulants and to get a little less sleep than usual. This primed them for reaching hypnagogia quickly and efficiently.
Before the snoozing started, Oudiette gave each participant the same math problem. The participants would need to come to the same hidden conclusion to solve the problem. Surprisingly, Oudiette discovered that sleepers who entered the hypnagogic stage for at least 15 seconds had an 83 percent higher chance of coming to the same hidden conclusion and solving the problem. But the trick remained waking up and diving into a task before falling too deeply into sleep.
It’s no surprise that many of us have felt creatively stifled recently. Reignite your spark as you turn the pages of the latest Ripley’s Believe It or Not! book, Out of the Box!
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog
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