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Serena Williams: Acing Life On And Off The Court
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Serena Williams is a tennis court titan with an impressive 308 grand slams and four Olympic gold medals to prove it. Recently, she beat both the All-Time Women’s and Men’s Records. She ranks among the best tennis players in the world, along with her sister, Venus. And it’s no coincidence.
Their father is tennis coach Richard Williams. He started the girls off in toddlerhood, homeschooling between training sessions. Serena was three when she picked up her first racket. What else do you need to know about this fierce and famous tennis star?
CC: Andrew Henkelman
Serena Williams was ranked number 1 in the world by age 20.Serena Jameka Williams brings excellence to everything she does. Besides a trove of impressive wins, the Women’s Tennis Association ranked her as number one in the world in 2002–just 20 at the time. This made her the youngest woman ever to receive this accolade.
What’s more, she held this spot for 319 weeks, ranking just below Martina Navratilova (332) and Steffi Graf (377) based on records since the advent of Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) computerized rankings.
What’s Williams’s winning percentage in the US Open? She tops the charts at an impressive .898. This figure places her in the upper echelons of the best players of all time. Coupled with her grand slams, she remains a formidable foe on the tennis court. But there’s a lot more to Serena than stellar athletic performance.
Serena Williams and Alexia Ohanian’s daughter has already started tennis lessons at 3 years old.In November 2017, Williams married Alexia Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, after meeting at a hotel in Rome. (No wonder Rome is her favorite city!) As she recalls, Ohanian was a little hungover when they first started talking, yet they still hit it off quickly. Soon, the couple started dating, and then he put a ring on it.
They got married in a dream wedding in New Orleans on November 16, commemorating the birthday of Ohanian’s mother, who passed away nearly a decade earlier. Today, they have a beautiful three-year-old daughter named Alexis “Olympia” Ohanian, Jr., who’s already taking tennis lessons. Can you imagine the pressure of being that tennis instructor?
Serena Williams learned how to speak French to prepare for her potential victory at the French Open.View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams)
In her teenage years, Williams decided to become fluent in French. As a competitor in the French Open, she wanted to have the ability to speak in the native language if (and when) she took home the victory. Additionally, in most African countries their local language is either French or English.
Though she’s been practicing and speaking French for years now, Williams told The New York Times, “I don’t really have a lot of confidence. I just had to kind of jump in. It’s way, way more nerve-racking than playing tennis.”
Today, Williams continues to practice her French-speaking tongue. She has even started teaching her daughter Olympia, at only 11 months old, a few of the basic French terms and commands such as, “Wash your hands.”
Serena Williams is a fierce philanthropist.Besides a happy home life, Williams is also known for her commitment to the Jehovah’s Witness faith and generous philanthropic work. In 2008, she founded the Serena Williams Foundation to provide resources to protect youth from violence and crime worldwide. The foundation has since branched out in other areas, including the construction of schools for kids in Jamaica, Kenya, and Uganda.
Williams has also worked as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for many years and remains actively involved in extensive charity work with them. In August 2020, she collaborated with Bella+Canvas, Scholastic, and the National School Board to provide students from under-served schools with educational materials and 4.25 million masks.
Serena Williams made a cameo in Beyoncé’s music video for the song “Sorry.”When it came time to release her visual Lemonade album, Beyoncé’s team asked Williams to be a part of the video for “Sorry.” Though hesitant at first, Williams told the Associated Press, “I have known the director since I was like nine years old. I know Beyoncé pretty well, so they were like, ‘We would love for you to be in this particular song. It’s about strength and it’s about courage and that’s what we see you as.”
A woman who embodies these themes rather perfectly both on and off the court, Williams followed Beyoncé’s instruction to “…be really free and dance like nobody’s looking,” and that’s exactly what she did!
And speaking of music, if you were wondering what type of tunes this record-breaking tennis star has on her playlist, it’s a little bit of everything. Williams’s go-to pump-up song is David Bowie’s “Fame,” and she embarrassingly admits, she even jams to a little “MMMBop” by Hanson, on occasion.
Serena Williams is a star both on the court and on the screen.If you wonder how Williams finds the time to train, compete, raise a family, and do philanthropy work, you’re not alone. But her many talents and activities don’t stop there.
She’s a voracious reader who loves curling up with books by her favorite author, Maya Angelou. And she’s tried her hand at acting in a handful of films and shows. You’ve likely seen her on ER and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit without even knowing it. She’s also voiced or acted in many movie productions, including Avatar: The Last AirBender and Drop Dead Diva.
And we can’t forget about inspirational documentaries such as Being Serena and Venus and Serena where she truly shines. Williams has even appeared alongside Kanye West and Alicia Keys in Common’s music video “I Want You.” And she regularly graces the covers of top magazines, the epitome of physical health and style. Both on and off the court, Williams remains a force to be reckoned with.
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!Deep-Sea Angler Makes Way To California Coast
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[May 10–May 16, 2021] Grumpy pups, a mystical mooer, and the spirit of Chernobyl—all round-up in this week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Grumpy Dogs Better at Learning New TricksWhen labeling pet personalities, old stereotypes die hard with cranky cats vs. happy-go-lucky dogs, but all pets have their own unique personalities. If your dog is more grumpy than gleeful, we’ve got some great news—what they lack in spirit, they may make up for in smarts!
According to a new study out of Hungary, grumpy dogs are better learners than their cheery counterparts.
After noticing a difference in learning styles between submissive and dominant dogs, researcher Peter Pongracz, of Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, decided to do a deep dive into learning how dogs with different personalities interact with their owners.
Pongracz had dog owners fill out a questionnaire about their pet’s general mannerisms, ultimately categorizing the animals who were big on barking as stubborn about coming when called, protective of food, possessive, or snippy when disturbed as “grumpy.” In shelters, these pooches usually come with the label “needs a very special owner.”
After making this distinction, Prongracz observed how the dogs reacted when their favorite treat was placed behind a V-shaped fence where they could see it clearly. Naturally, the pups charged directly toward their tasty treat, only to find themselves frazzled when they discovered they’d need to go farther away and around the fence to get closer.
CC: Department of Ethology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University.
The key to this experiment was examining how the dogs reacted to this adjustment. While both types performed at the same level when figuring out how to get the treat on their own or with their owner’s guidance, the grumpy pups did significantly better when a stranger showed them the way.
The exact reasoning for this increased performance level remains to be discovered. Still, the study has received some criticism for not detailing any background information on the dog’s life or training history that contributes to their overall personalities and behaviors.
Maybe it’s like they say, dogs can’t have it all!
Three-Eyed Cow Looks Towards FutureA Welsh veterinarian doing routine TB-testing on cows at a farm in Pwllhei, Gwynedd, had a “holy cow” moment she noticed a third eye on a four-month-old calf.
Malan Hughes, 28, has worked on over 3,000 cows in her career thus far but has never seen anything quite as eye-opening as looking at the calf’s forehead only to find herself gazing directly into an extra eyeball.
“Vets tend to see all sorts of things—cyclops lambs and animals born with two heads—but I have never seen anything like this before,” said Hughes.
The eye-nomally is complete with lids and lashes, and even some sort of lubricant keeping it moist, but it is unclear if it does anything more than look cool. The extra peeper doesn’t seem to be bothering the calf, but there is no way to tell if it’s causing triple vision—or looking into the future.
As for what the future holds for the mooing mystic, Hughes says the calf will live a normal life and be treated with routine veterinary care.
Spirit of Chernobyl Seized by Ukraine
Can’t quite believe what we spotted today… anyone else ever seen one?
#vettwitter #farmvet pic.twitter.com/GnC2Ms3RLR
— Malan Hughes
⚕️ (@MalanHughes) May 10, 2021
A group of adventurous alcohol purveyors’ spirits were squashed this week when the Ukrainian government seized 1,500 bottles of liquor produced in Chernobyl’s Exclusion Zone.
The Chernobyl Spirit Company has been working tirelessly to release an 80-proof spirit distilled from apple crops grown in the 1,000 square mile area around the infamous nuclear power plant. It seems the Ukrainian Security Services had other plans, launching an investigation into the brand that resulted in their first batch being seized by Kyiv City Prosecutors.
The company was set to start selling ATOMIK Apple Spirit this spring after the pandemic delayed its original launch date, marking the first consumer product ever produced in the Exclusion Zone since the nuclear plant’s 1986 explosion.
With commercial agricultural activity banned in the Exclusion Zone, the scientists at the Chernobyl Spirit Company spent over three years researching the effects of radioactivity on the area’s crops and eventually created a raw grain vodka. After testing with slightly elevated radiation levels, the vodka was scrapped and transitioned into a distilled spirit similar to moonshine—the ATOMIK Apple Spirit, a drink no more radioactive than any other spirit.
The government’s reasoning for seizing the spirits doesn’t appear to stem from the radiation that has plagued the area since the disaster, but rather to do with taxes, with the government accusing the company of using counterfeit Ukrainian excise stamps, proving that the correct taxes were paid on the goods.
Copyright: University of Portsmouth
According to Jim Smith, a founding member of the Chernobyl Spirit Company and professor at the University of Portsmouth, the allegations don’t add up since the bottles seized were meant “for the UK market and are clearly labeled with valid UK excise stamps.”
Smith says he and his colleagues have “worked hard to set up a business to help bring jobs and investment to the Chernobyl-affected areas of Ukraine and to further support the community with 75 [percent] of any profits we make.”
The company’s attorney says this setback is a violation of Ukrainian law, but they believe “that the truth will win.”
Michigan State Botanists In It for the Slow GrowA group of Michigan State University botany professors has gardened its way into history after successfully growing 142-year-old seeds discovered buried on campus grounds.
In 1879, Michigan State University botanist William James Beal snatched up over a thousand seeds from various local weed species, dispersing them into 20 bottles and burying them in secrecy. What began as an effort to give local farmers intel on how long local weed seeds could lay dormant ended up marking the beginning of one of the longest science experiments ever to take place.
Beal planned to unearth and plant the seeds from one bottle every five years to see if they would germinate, but after his passing in 1910, the new caretakers cut it down to every 10, then every 20, until eventually Frank Telewski took over in 2000.
The latest bottle was due to be dug up in 2020 but was postponed when the pandemic shut down the university. On April 15, Telewski finally set out on an early morning hunt for Beal’s buried bottles, bringing colleagues Marjorie Weber, David Lowry, Lars Brudvig, and Richard Lenski along for the search. Two hours into digging, the team realized they were about two feet east of where the map was leading them, but what’s two hours when it comes to 142 years of research?
Once they course-corrected and procured the goods, the real work began, and the seeds were planted and placed in a grow chamber.
On April 24, Lowry, an associate professor at the university, took a peek at the progress and saw two tiny leaves making their way out of the dirt. Only a few days later, 10 plants were sprouting up! Thus far, the star of the experiment has been Verbascum blattaria, a yellow-flowered herb that has successfully grown in each iteration since the ninth bottle was retrieved.
The team will continue changing environments to encourage the rest of the seeds to grow and plan on more burying more bottles in ecological research sites for long-term study.
While this new experiment is underway, Beal’s will be going strong until its planned end in 2100.
Deep-Sea Angler Makes Way To California Coast
Now, THIS is cool! – Seeds From a 142-Year-Old Science Experiment Have Sprouted https://t.co/OytgWn7lF9 #science #research pic.twitter.com/agtLJmODkS
— Professor Jennifer T Edwards (@drjtedwards) May 13, 2021
Beach-goers stumbled upon an unexpected find last Friday when a Pacific Football Fish mysteriously made its way from the deep-sea onto the shores of Crystal Cove State Park in Laguna Beach, California.
Found washed up on Crystal Cove’s Marine Protected Area, the black-colored, sharp-toothed anglerfish was noticeably out of place in the sunny SoCal sand.
While Pacific Football Fish are not necessarily rare creatures, they are typically found 3,000 feet below sea level begging the question—how did this fish remain perfectly preserved all the way from the ocean floors to Orange County coastline?
According to a Facebook post from the Crystal Cove State Park, “to see an actual angler fish intact is very rare, and it is unknown how or why the fish ended up on the shore.”
We may not know the fish’s journey to the coast, but we do know that this 18-inch creature from the deep blue is a female, as male Football Fish only grow to be about an inch long! She also has a bioluminescent stalk coming out of her head, which is only found on females.
The body of this miraculous discovery is currently being held at the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, where it will be studied for research and education.
“Seeing this strange and fascinating fish is a testament to the diversity of marine life lurking below the water’s surface,” continued the Park’s post. “As scientists continue to learn more about these deep-sea creatures, it’s important to reflect on how much is still to be learned from our wonderful ocean.”
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!
May 13, 2021
May 12, 2021
Walking A Mile In Robert Wadlow’s Shoes
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Today: The World’s Tallest Man, Robert Wadlow
Measuring in at 8 feet 11.1 inches from head to toe, Robert Wadlow was the tallest man to have ever lived. Wadlow could only travel by a specially built car that had its seats removed to accommodate his large legs. In fact, Wadlow had many items customized due to his height. Not only were his clothes and walking cane unusually large, but his shoes became quite a hot commodity later in his life. The International Shoe Company provided Wadlow with custom 39AA shoes and Wadlow endorsed the business, showing up to events promoting their footwear.
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts like this one, and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
May 11, 2021
The Donner Party: Horror And Cannibalism In The Mountains
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
On April 17, 1847, the horror of the Donner Party’s infamous ordeal came to its conclusion high in the Sierra Nevada mountains along Truckee Lake’s banks (later renamed Donner Lake). It would prove among the most shocking parts of this ill-fated emigrant train’s story and involved a small handful of survivors. Other members of the party had either perished or been rescued.
But several individuals had to stay behind as the third relief party didn’t have room for them. They included George Donner, unable to travel due to a gangrenous leg, and his wife, Tamsen, who refused to leave his side. Lewis Keseberg, a 32-year-old German immigrant who had been traveling with his family and already reportedly eaten two children, also remained behind.
These last survivors pinned their hopes on a fourth relief party. Yet, when that fourth rescue group finally arrived in mid-April, what rescuers found shocked the world.
An April DiscoveryBy the time the last of the relief parties reached Donner Summit to rescue members of “Cannibal Camp,” everyone knew the ill-fated pioneers had broken a major taboo to survive, the consumption of human flesh. Of the 87 people who started on the journey across the American West’s vast thoroughfares—29 men, 15 women, and 43 children—only 47 would survive. The vast majority were children, who adult members of the party kept alive through cannibalism.
Survivors of the nightmare described anguished details to their rescuers. What’s more, physical evidence of cannibalism pervaded the camp as related by one member of a relief party, Edwin Bryant. According to his book What I Saw in California, rescuers found human skeletons “in every variety of mutilation. A more revolting and appalling spectacle I never witnessed.” The horror at “Cannibal Camp” arose from a perfect storm of travel delays, rugged terrain, and a failed shortcut that took the party far from its original route.
Trouble Before the Sierra CrossingThe Donner Party’s tragic story began in April 1846, when ten families and a collection of single men headed westward. They started in Illinois, crossing the Great Plains and banding together to take Hastings Cutoff, an untested but shorter pathway to California. The cutoff proved disastrous, putting the emigrants well behind other travelers that season. Personal conflicts arose, and the group changed in number and makeup throughout the trip. At its core were the Illinois businessman, James Reed, the Breen family, the Murphy family, and the Donner family. Before even reaching the Sierra Nevadas, trouble brewed among members of the group.
A photo of James F. and Margaret (Keyes) Reed, who were members of the Donner Party.
Reed would be banished from the party for murder before ever making the fateful Sierra Nevada crossing. As a result, he traveled more quickly through the mountains, reaching California before the snow came. He would raise money for the first relief party, successfully retrieving his wife and children before succumbing to cannibalism or death.
The Fight for SurvivalAlthough recent archaeological evidence has proven inconclusive regarding how rampant cannibalism was among the group, it’s tough to ignore vivid accounts from the historical record, including survivors’ confessions. As Dr. Donald Hardesty has noted, historical statements “certainly imply cannibalism but, so far, they are minimally supported by the archaeological record.” Archaeologists have found no signs of human burials or cannibalism involving cooked human bones, leaving much room for interpretation.
Nevertheless, oral accounts tell of pioneers frantic to complete their journey before the end of the season, harried by Native Americans in the Great Basin, and dogged by fears of impending snow in the towering Sierra Nevada mountains. Surviving members of the party confessed to cannibalism, including Mary Donner. Seven years old at the time, she later admitted, “I could not help it; I had eaten nothing for days, and I was afraid to die.” Considering the stigma that would follow those who partook in cannibalism, it’s hard to fathom any would willingly lie about the practice.
Snowbound NightmareBy the time the travelers reached the Sierra Nevada in October, they knew their window for traversing the mountains was fast closing. But they chose to continue, assuming the winter snows wouldn’t get much past two feet. By the end of the ordeal, 22 feet of snow buried them, stranding the party in makeshift shelters and a series of cabins along the lake’s shores. The height of the stumps the pioneers chopped down for firewood and cabins still attest to the extreme snowpack that year.
Stumps of trees cut at the Alder Creek site by members of the Donner Party, photograph taken in 1866. The height of the stumps indicates the depth of snow.
Supplies dwindled quickly, and the settlers turned to eating pack animals and dogs. Next, they boiled blankets and hides, making a gelatinous soup that didn’t offer much in the way of sustenance. Over the next few months, half of the party perished, and the other half turned to desperate means of survival. Approximately 21 members of the party may have been consumed, according to historical accounts. But rumors about one member of the party would persist, rumors of murder for cannibalistic and opportunistic reasons.
A Quiet CampWhen the last of the four relief parties came upon the Donner Party’s lakeside camp on April 17, 1847, utter silence greeted them. The log cabins built by the trapped pioneers contained no signs of life. The remaining survivors were nowhere to be seen. At George Donner’s camp at Alder Creek, a few miles from the cabins at Truckee Lake, they found the same eerie silence. The third relief party had left Donner in the care of his wife, Tamsen, near death due to his infected leg.
But the fourth relief party found Donner on the ground, his head split and emptied of its brains. The tent was empty save for a pot filled with human meat. A fresh set of footprints led away from the camp, the only sign of life. The rescuers hunkered down to make camp for the night, exhausted physically and emotionally by what they had discovered.
Rumors of MurderTwo days later, on the 19th, the footprints led rescuers to Lewis Keseberg in the midst of preparing a meal of human liver and lungs. In Keseberg’s waistcoat pocket, the team found gold coins totaling $225 from the Donner’s private store. He soon admitted to cannibalizing Tamsen, although he swore she died of natural causes. The rescuers had their doubts as Tamsen had appeared in decent health based on the third relief party’s testimony. What’s more, Keseberg had ready access to oxen meat at the time of the discovery.
Lewis Keseberg, a member of the Donner Party. This was published in Charles McGlashan’s 1880 book, History of the Donner Party. The original photo is held at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Rumors of murder, theft, and cannibalism would follow Keseberg until his dying day, adding a salacious angle to the stranded pioneers’ story. Although he would later stand trial for the murder of six Donner Party members, he was acquitted on each count due to lack of evidence. But he never outlived the infamy of his emigrant experience, dying impoverished and exiled. Unfortunately, the continued lack of physical evidence from April 1847 means we may never know what happened between Keseberg and the Donner Party’s last few survivors.
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!Source: The Donner Party: Horror And Cannibalism In The Mountains
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