Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 152
April 2, 2021
April 1, 2021
The Time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Pranked Houdini With Dinosaurs
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
While it may be known that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, and magician, Harry Houdini, were acquaintances, how they came to be this way is quite an interesting story. What ignited this brief and unlikely friendship? It turns out, Doyle pranked the noted illusionist into believing that dinosaurs were still alive back in 1922.
As his name might suggest, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a bit of a serious fellow. A prolific writer, he believed deeply in the movement of the day, Spiritualism. A following that raged across the United States during and after the Civil War—one so strong that even Mary Todd Lincoln held seances in the White House due to her belief in it—Spiritualism held the notion that the departed were able to (and did) communicate with the living. Doyle’s involvement in Spiritualism began in 1894 when he joined the British Society for Psychical Research, a community of individuals who investigated local paranormal phenomena. Doyle would become further entrenched in the movement after his son died in World War I. For the rest of his days, Doyle claimed that his son communicated with him from beyond the grave.
Then, there was Houdini. A noted illusionist famous for performing dangerous escape acts, Harry Houdini despised Spiritualism. So much so, he took it upon himself to expose the many cons that unscrupulously preyed on the victims of the recently deceased. Throughout the 1920s, Houdini would expose many charlatans parading around as mediums to the afterlife.
Editorial credit: Everett Collection / Shutterstock.com
As the story goes, Doyle came to America in 1922 to lecture on Spiritualism. Anticipating his arrival, Houdini invited him to the annual meeting of the Society of American Magicians. Upon receiving the invitation, Doyle was skeptical of the group’s intention—fearing the ridicule he might endure for his spiritual beliefs in a room full of magicians. However, he gladly accepted the offer, with a surprise in tow. The guest of honor brought with him actual proof that dinosaurs not only existed but still lived!
Doyle would play for the astonished crowd a portion of a black and white film featuring dinosaurs milling about. Not just one dinosaur, mind you, but many dinosaurs! After showing the clip, he refused to answer any of the crowd’s questions, only to say that the men would be wise to keep their collective minds open when it came to the unknown.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle later addressed his little bit of film in an article to The New York Times on June 4, 1922. In the article, he included a letter to Houdini recanting the film’s veracity, calling the whole thing “a hoax.” The clip Doyle played for the wizards that fateful day was part of a stop-animation film based on one of Doyle’s works, called The Lost World, that was soon to see mass release.
The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Though the prank was all in good fun, Houdini and Doyle couldn’t get past the one major wedge in their friendship: the practice of Spiritualism. Following Doyle’s dinosaur “lesson,” he vacationed with his wife, Lady Jean, in Atlantic City and invited Houdini to come along for a visit. The three took part in a private séance in attempts to contact Houdini’s beloved late mother. To give his friend the benefit of the doubt, Houdini participated. However, the experience went south when Lady Jean’s reading was completely false and error-ridden. All of the incorrect details surrounding Houdini’s mother, in addition to his preexisting skepticism, made this his first and last experience with Spiritualism.
This seance-gone-wrong, paired with Houdini’s constant debunking of clairvoyants and other magicians, eventually cost the two gentlemen their short-lived friendship by 1924. Though when Houdini’s accidental passing came in 1926, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle seemed to have let past resentments go, writing about his former friend: “I greatly admired him, and cannot understand how the end came for one so youthful. We were great friends… We agreed upon everything excepting Spiritualism.”
By Jesse Gormley, 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 Time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Pranked Houdini With Dinosaurs
March 31, 2021
Check Out This 2,000-Year-Old Peruvian Femur!
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Today: A 2,000-Year-Old Peruvian Femur
Dating back to 114 B.C., this femur suffered a full-blown compound fracture. The individual’s break healed with an absurd amount of new bone at the center. Though mended, this ancient femur was undoubtedly painful for the individual while walking and performing daily functions.
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!Baseball’s Notoriously Superstitious, Strange, And Screwball Sluggers
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
America’s favorite pastime is back in full swing, bringing with it bleachers (somewhat) full of enthusiastic fans—and a great opportunity to revisit a few curious habits held by the game’s most superstitious and quirky players. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of peculiar players in the game’s hallowed history. Let’s take a look, and—along the way—learn a little bit about the game’s history.
Turk Wendell’s Collection of QuirksAsk anyone close to the game of baseball about superstitious players, and Turk Wendell, who played from 1993-2004, is guaranteed to come up. After all, this is the player who insisted that umpires roll, rather than toss, baseballs his way. On the mound, he was known for chewing exactly four pieces of black licorice—and brushing his teeth between each inning. He would wait for queues from teammates (such as a wave) before proceeding, jump over the foul line, and even draw three crosses into the mound’s dirt at the beginning of each inning. The catcher stands up? Wendell would respond with a crouch.
Believe It or Not!, baseball’s foul strike rule goes back to 1901, as a response to players developing a knack for hitting foul after foul to earn a walk.
Don’t Call Wade Boggs “Chicken”That’s right—go with “The Chicken Man,” as his teammates used to do! Seems Boggs began having pre-game chicken meals as a budgeting necessity in his early days as a player. After noticing his stats bumping up, he figured the chicken had something to do with it, and so he kept the tradition. Dining on fowl to prevent fouls on the field? Fantastic strategy!
CC: Ted Straub via Wikimedia Commons
Ready for a roundup of some of the most unbelievable ballpark food? Certainly not your average hotdog, keep an eye out for pork rind chippers, toasted grasshoppers, and apple pie nachos next time you’re at the ballpark!
Jason Giambi’s Golden ThongJason Giambi, who began his career in 1995, has a golden rule when it comes to luck: he’s been known to wear a golden thong whenever he’s not playing his best. What’s the success rate? Sometimes there are questions best left unanswered. Jason’s also well known for his generous nature—in fact, a handful of other players have been allowed to share his golden thong, whenever down on their own luck. Yikes!
CC: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA
Baseball pants—plain, normal baseball pants—have their own unique history (if not a little less golden). The pantaloons, as they were first called, were quilted from wool—not exactly the definition of “comfortable” on a hot summer afternoon.
Mark “The Bird,” DudeMark “The Bird” Fidrych pitched for the Detroit Tigers from 1976 to 1980. Fans rejoiced when he was called to the field. After chants of “We want the bird!” Fidrych would crouch on the mound, sometimes appearing to be speaking to himself, and aim the ball as if it were a dart. What’s more, he had a personal catcher, of sorts; coaches themselves didn’t want to jinx his luck and had the same rookie catcher, Bruce Kimm, assigned to collect each of his successful pitches.
It’s all in the hands: Moises Alou, who comes from a baseball family (his father, two uncles, and a cousin also played Major League Baseball), has been known to relieve himself on his own hands before a game in order to “relieve calluses”. Resorting to this tactic—rather than wearing the traditional batting glove—simply isn’t recommended.
Photo by FloridaStock / Shutterstock.com
By the way, Bobby Thomson is sometimes credited as being the first to use batting gloves in 1949. Others credit Ted Williams for doing so around 1953.
All About the ThreeRockies player Larry Walker was, uh, a little crazy about the number 3. He was known for waking up 33 minutes after whatever the hour may be, he was married at 3:33 pm, and he took his practice swings in threes. It’s a good thing his uniform number was (you guessed it!) 33.
Did you know that the earliest use of baseball uniform numbers dates back to 1907? The Reading Red Roses of the Atlantic League are believed to have implemented them to help fans follow their favorite players.
Mysterious Moe BergIf you’re looking for baseball’s brainiest player, Morris “Moe” Berg might do the trick. He graduated from Princeton in 1923 and entered law school at Columbia University during the offseason. He was fluent in German, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese and had some knowledge of at least a dozen other languages earning him the title of “brainiest guy in baseball.” And if that wasn’t enough, he later became a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II!
Berg’s story even made it to the big screen—The Catcher Was a Spy, featuring Paul Rudd, was released in 2018.
Little League LuckEven before the pro league came calling, Jason Grilli was a superstitious player. Case in point: he’d tuck a baseball card into his shoe. He’d flip the card depending on if he was pitching or not—hoping to absorb powers from the players depicted on the card.
CC: Keith Allison via Flickr
Believe It or Not!, it was 1868 when the first baseball card was produced by Peck and Snyder, a New York sporting goods store. And just this year, a Mint 9 PSA-grade Topps 2952 Mickey Mantle was sold for a record-breaking $5.2 million.
Unique player personalities, like those we’ve covered here, make the game of baseball so much more enjoyable for everyone. And, hey—we even learned something about the game’s history in the process. Batter up!
By Bill Furbee, 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: Baseball’s Notoriously Superstitious, Strange, And Screwball Sluggers
March 30, 2021
America’s First Doomsday Cult Hideaway
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Tucked away in a remote section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the former meeting place of America’s very first doomsday cult. Named after the group’s leader, Johannes Kelpius, this 40-square-foot “tabernacle” is built into the side of a hill above the Wissahickon Creek. Thought to possibly be an old springhouse, legend has it that this stone-framed hideaway was once a safe place for 40 monks as they awaited the End of Days and the Second Coming.
In 1694, a group of German mystics and monks, dubbed “The Society of the Woman in the Wilderness,” settled along the Wissahickon Creek in the Fairmount Park section of the newly-founded Philadelphia. Their society was named after a woman in the Book of Revelations, who sought refuge in the wilderness during the apocalypse. The monks chose the location of their cave not only for easy access to clean spring water but because of its position on the 40th parallel. The group also created a 40-square-foot tabernacle including an observatory where the monks practiced astronomy—it’s believed to be the first observatory of the new world. Numerology was a sacred practice to the monks, and the number 40 held a special significance.
The Hermits of the WissahickonThe “Hermits of the Wissahickon,” were led by the cave’s namesake, 26-year-old Johannes Kelpius. The Transylvanian mystic and scholar was born in the same village as Vlad the Impaler and earned an MA in theology from the University of Altdorf. Like many of the others in the group, Kelpius’s expertise was in medicine and music composition.
During his time at Altdorf, Kelpius was introduced to the Pietist religious movement. Pietism is a movement within Lutheranism that emphasizes personal holiness and devotion over mere compliance to church rituals. Kelpius soon joined a small group of young men called The Chapter of Perfection. Formed by German Pietist, Johann Jacob Zimmerman, the group believed they were on the brink of a new spiritual age and had to prepare for Christ’s return.
In 1692, The Chapter of Perfection was anonymously offered a free plot of land and free passage to Pennsylvania. Kelpius believed this to be an ideal opportunity as 17th-century Pennsylvania had a reputation for religious tolerance and many Quakers, Pietists, Communitarians, and free-thinking groups had sought refuge there.
Passing The Torch To KelpiusShortly before the group was set to depart for America, Zimmerman died and appointed Kelpius as The Chapter of Perfection’s new spiritual leader. Kelpius was determined to complete his mentor’s mission of awaiting Christ’s return.
It’s said that Kelpius and the rest of the group remained in the forest—even after the anticipated end of the world had come and gone—creating music and art, studying the skies, and medicinally helping those in the local community. In fact, it wasn’t until 1708 that the monks disbanded, following Kelpius’s death. Some of the members stayed in Philadelphia and eventually became lawyers and doctors.
Cave of Kelpius located near Wissahickon Creek || Photo by Steven L. Johnson via Flickr
Three centuries have returned the site to the unruly wilderness that the monks saw when they first arrived. Today, the meeting space for Kelpius’s monks is nothing more than a lone cave on a hill. A large, granite monolith was placed outside of its entrance by the Rosicrucians in 1961, a worldwide mystical brotherhood claiming roots in ancient Egypt and considers Kelpius the original American Rosicrucian.
By Stephanie Weaver, 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!
March 29, 2021
March 28, 2021
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