Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 163
January 21, 2021
The First DMC DeLorean Rolled Off the Assembly Line 40 Years Ago
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The first DMC-12 DeLorean sports car was produced on Jan. 21, 1981. This futuristic automobile is best known for its appearance in the Back to The Future films. With a stainless-steel finish, gull-wing doors, and futuristic look, the DeLorean was perfect for this time-traveling franchise. But what the movies certainly don’t tell us is that the car’s financial failure turned its inventor, John DeLorean, from a highly successful automaker into a man desperate man willing to save his company by any means possible.
Before launching his own car business, DeLorean made his mark working for other automakers. He was responsible for the Pontiac GTO, which was the first muscle car of the ‘60s and ‘70s, but it nearly didn’t make it to production. DeLorean was the chief engineer of Pontiac in the early 1960s when he installed a Bonneville’s 389-cubic-inch V8 engine into a Tempest, creating a powerful and torquey vehicle.
Dubbed the Pontiac Tempest LeMans GTO, DeLorean had to find a loophole to get approval for the project; GM did not allow engineers to put big engines in smaller vehicles in order to make them faster. DeLorean got around the rule by making the larger engine an option on the 1964 Tempest. At the time, GTO coupes cost $2,852, while convertibles were $3,081—significantly less than what his future DMC-12 DeLorean would cost. During the first year of production, Pontiac sold a whopping 32,000 GTOs, proving people wanted more raw power in their cars. Unfortunately, DeLorean failed to put the same kind of power in the DMC-12 many years later.
Riding In StyleAfter the success of the GTO, DeLorean realized the value of style when it came to transportation. He understood that consumers wanted vehicles that were more than merely functional. During his time as General Manager of GM’s Pontiac Motor Division, he was part of the team responsible for the Pontiac Firebird and Firebird Trans Am—the iconic car in the 1977 film, Smokey and the Bandit. It became history’s most famous Pontiac Trans Am, driven by Burt Reynolds.
By the late ‘60s, DeLorean also started making a personal transformation. He previously had a clean-cut, upstanding image to conform to standards expected of GM executives. But after he developed the GTO, he started embracing a more Hollywood-type lifestyle. He divorced his wife of 14 years in 1968 and traveled more frequently to the west coast, where he socialized with celebrities. He dated a slew of models and stars, including Ursula Andress, who played Bond girl, Honey Ryder, in the first James Bond film, Dr. No. Andress became a major sex symbol, and her appearance in the 1962 film was voted number one in a British survey of “The 100 Greatest Sexy Moments.”
DeLorean also dated other beautiful stars, including actress Raquel Welch, singer, dancer, and actress Joey Heatherton, and Frank Sinatra’s youngest daughter, Tina. In 1969, DeLorean, 44, married Kelly Harmon, 20, sister of NCIS actor, Mark Harmon and daughter of former college football star and sportscaster, Tom Harmon. DeLorean was living the high life.
Driving with the Hollywood StarsIn 1973, DeLorean resigned from GM due to creative differences. His second marriage didn’t last, and he went on to marry 23-year-old supermodel, Cristina Ferrare. His focus shifted to building a car with safety and durability in mind, versus the sleek and flashy features. He enlisted the help of Italian car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, known for vehicles such as the Lotus Esprit and the Ferrari 250 GT SWB Bertone. Due to his Hollywood connections, DeLorean was able to raise money for his company, DMC DeLorean, through Hollywood stars such as Johnny Carson and Sammy Davis, Jr.
DeLorean set up his factory in Northern Ireland. It took just over two years to build the facility and start production on his DMC-12. DeLorean was required to produce a set number of vehicles in order to raise the stock offering, so he doubled his initial number not knowing sales would fall short of expectations. Only half of the approximately 7,000 vehicles were sold by February 1982.
DeLorean DMC-12 at the American Car Show, Castle Hill, NSW 2015 || CC: Jeremy from Sydney, Australia via Wikimedia Commons
While people loved the look of his DMC-12, they didn’t like its lack of power, mediocre handling, and less-than impressive fuel efficiency and safety features. In addition, the gull-wing doors didn’t always function properly, and it was too easy to leave fingerprints on the stainless-steel finish. Plus, it cost nearly $25,000! It simply didn’t perform or resonate like his GTO or Firebird.
DeLorean claimed he had 30,000 orders for the car. In reality, the company ended up producing around 9,000 DMC-12s, and consumers bought only 6,000 of them. Deeply in debt, DeLorean turned to other methods to earn money to keep his company afloat.
From Driving to DrugsUnfortunately, DeLorean was unable to secure financing to prevent liquidation. In October 1982, he was arrested through an FBI sting operation for planning to sell 220 pounds of cocaine valued at $24 million. One week later, DMC DeLorean filed for bankruptcy.
During his trial, it was revealed that a paid FBI informant had offered DeLorean the drugs and promised to come up with the money if the car company was used as collateral. While DeLorean had the intention to sell the cocaine, he never actually had it in his possession. Also, he never planned to actually pay for the drugs.
As a result, DeLorean was acquitted of all charges.
Over time, DeLorean’s legal issues mounted (and involved embezzling $72 million), and he eventually went bankrupt. As a result, he was forced to sell his 434-acre New Jersey estate. Donald Trump purchased the estate and turned it into the Trump National Golf Club.
Unfortunately, DeLorean’s personal life also suffered after his company failed, and he was acquitted of drug charges. His model wife took their two children and left him. However, he married again and lived to age 80, passing away from stroke complications. But his last days were far from decadent. Prior to his death, he was living in a one-bedroom apartment with his fourth wife.
Back to the Future (and Present) of the DeLoreanHad he held on to his company, DeLorean may have been able to recoup some of his losses. In 1997, Stephen Wynne purchased the DeLorean inventory and resurrected the company using over four million leftover parts. The company doesn’t currently build any new cars, although Wynne wants to, it refurbishes vehicles to like-new condition.
CC: Konrad Krajewski via Flickr
Wynne told CNN in 2019, “DeLoreans have gone up so much in value recently. We sell DeLoreans that are worth having, cosmetically nice, mechanically nice. And they go for about between $50,000 and $60,000. I’ll spend about 25 to 30 grand on each to get them to that standard.”
Meanwhile, over the past several years Wynne has been trying to get permission to build new models. However, the federal government has been slow to create legislation that will let people, like Wynne, build low-production replica vehicles. If you’re looking for a brand-new DeLorean, you may have to wait a while!
Are you a Back to the Future fan just itching for more behind-the-scenes movie content? Ripley’s exhibit collection is actually home to one other form of futuristic transportation—Marty McFly’s hoverboard! Take off to an Odditorium near you to see other pop culture artifacts like this iconic Hollywood prop.
By Noelle Talmon, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: The First DMC DeLorean Rolled Off the Assembly Line 40 Years Ago
January 20, 2021
The Dance Plague That Struck Strasbourg
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The waltz. The tango. The Cha-Cha Slide. There’s a dance for everyone, but what if you couldn’t stop doing it no matter how much you wanted to—as if the power of dance compelled you?
In July 1518, residents of Strasbourg, France, found themselves twisting their lives away when a mystery ailment caused hundreds of people to dance nonstop through the dog days of summer. Talk about burning up the dance floor!
A woman named Frau Troffeta kicked off the dance-a-thon by dazzling crowds with her moves. Onlookers clapped and cheered, invigorated by Troffeta’s presumed joyfulness and energy.
Her grand solo continued for six days straight until dozens of others began to join in and, with that, the dance craze had officially struck the city, claiming 400 victims by August!
While dancing the night away may sound like a grand old-time, it turns out the same cannot be said for months of hysterical shimmying and shaking. This was one dance party even Casey Kasem wouldn’t have wanted in on!
Local physicians were baffled by the occurrence and suggested that those inflicted should be bled. The town nixed this idea and instead determined that those affected should carry on with their jigs until the fever went away. They even constructed a stage and hired professional musicians and dancers to throw an impromptu marathon!
Soon enough, dancers began fainting from exhaustion, with many even dancing themselves to death, having suffered strokes and heart attacks. At one point, 15 people were dying per day from the rigors of constant movement.
Engraving portrays three women affected by the plague. Work based on original drawing by Pieter Brueghel, who supposedly witnessed a subsequent outbreak in 1564 in Flanders.
When it became abundantly clear that continuing to dance would not solve the problem, the town turned to religion for answers. It was then determined that St. Vitus had cursed the city with a dancing plague, having been angered by nefarious acts committed by residents. Town officials cracked down on gambling and prostitution in an attempt to appease the Catholic saint.
The plague ended just as suddenly as it began in September when the dancing simply stopped, and everyone returned to normal life.
Believe It or Not!, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill urban legend, as it is heavily documented in historical records of the time. In fact, this is only the largest incident of this nature in the 16th century. At least 10 other dancing epidemics occurred along the Rhine and Mosel rivers in Germany, Holland, and Switzerland around the same time—all of which followed times of hardship.
There have been plenty of theories over the years about what exactly caused this phenomenon. Was it actually the curse of St. Vitus, or was this a psychological outbreak caused by stress from the disease and famine ravishing the area at the time? Some claimed the outburst was an elaborate stunt put on members of a religious cult. Other theories suggest that the affected may have consumed rye containing ergot, a toxic mold that produces hallucinations and convulsions.
While we may never know what caused this dance hysteria, we may take a beat next time we decide to get footloose and fancy-free.
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!
January 19, 2021
Theories Evermore Surrounding Edgar Allan Poe’s Death
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Both sensitive and macabre, literary pioneer Edgar Allan Poe played a very large role in developing the horror, science fiction, and detective story genres, paving the way for fictional characters like Nancy Drew to Sherlock Holmes. Charles Baudelaire and Salvador Dali were heavily influenced by Poe’s themes and aesthetics, and Alfred Hitchcock even gives him credit for inspiring him to make his suspenseful films. Upon his death, Poe was buried unceremoniously in an unmarked grave in Baltimore but was dug up 26 years later to be moved to the site of a statue to honor his legacy.
While Poe was a regular when it came to creating suspense and curating endings to be left for interpretation, little did he know that his own life would end in a similar fate–plastered with questions and unknowns. It seems fitting yet cryptic, that the man of mystery’s death still remains a mystery. What was the cause of Poe’s untimely death? That question remains up for debate to this day.
Death by Brain TumorThe most recent and realistic theory of Poe’s death suggests he died of a brain tumor, which could’ve played a role in his behavior leading up to death. When he was dug up for transportation to his new memorial, there wasn’t much left to his deceased body besides bone. In transport, a worker happened to notice an unusual mass rolling inside of Poe’s skull. At the time of discovery, newspapers claimed that the clump was actually Poe’s brain that had shriveled up, yet stayed intact, after almost three decades underground.
American author Matthew Pearl, who wrote a novel about Poe’s death, was intrigued by the clump. He contacted a forensic pathologist who confirmed that the clump couldn’t be a brain. However, it’s possible that it was a tumor. Tumors can calcify after death into hard masses, while the brain is one of the first parts of the body to disintegrate.
Due to Poe’s substance abuse, another likely cause of his death was the result of a severe seizure. Researchers have speculated a possible misdiagnosis at the time of his death, as complex partial seizures were not well-understood or known during this time period. Poe also may have suffered from complex partial epilepsy–a disease fueled and complicated by his addiction. Poe wrote many tales based on characters with episodic unconsciousness, confusion, and paranoia, paralleling many of his own experiences throughout his life.
Death by BeatingIn 1867, biographer E. Oakes Smith wrote in her article Autobiographic Notes: Edgar Allan Poe that, “At the instigation of a woman who considered herself injured by him, he was cruelly beaten, blow upon blow, by a ruffian who knew of no better mode of avenging supposed injuries. It is well known that a brain fever followed. . . ” This, and many other accounts, have mentioned that Poe was beaten senseless before his death.
In another 1872 article, The Grave of Poe written by Eugeme Didier, it is said that while in Baltimore, Poe ran into friends from West Point, who he joined for drinks. He got madly drunk off a single glass of champagne and began to wander the streets. In his drunken state, he “was robbed and beaten by ruffians, and left insensible in the street all night.”
It’s no hidden fact that abuse was extremely present in Poe’s life, but it’s also been reported that he wasn’t exactly the best when it came to handling his drinks. He would become belligerently drunk off a single glass of wine–a possible hereditary trait as his sister had a similar problem.
Many theorists believe a “death by drinking” demise for Poe. But samples of Poe’s hair from after his death show low levels of lead, which is an indication that Poe remained faithful to his vow of sobriety up until his demise.
Death by RabiesResearcher, Dr. R. Michael Benitez, believes that Poe was not drunk upon leaving a bar on Lombard Street wearing someone else’s soiled clothes. After Poe entered the hospital, he was heavily perspiring, hallucinating, and shouting at imaginary companions. He later grew confused and belligerent, before eventually passing in the hospital.
Dr. Benitez ties these behaviors and symptoms back to a classic case of rabies. Rabies victims frequently resist drinking water out of fear that it will be painful to swallow. For the brief period Poe was awake and oriented in the hospital’s care, he refused water with great effort.
Death by Voter FraudThe most heavily speculated cause of Edgar Allan Poe’s death was a means of cooping. In the 19th century, corrupt politicians paid gangs to kidnap unsuspecting victims, disguise them, and force them to vote for a specific candidate multiple times in different outfits. If the victims did not comply, they were beaten or forced to chug liquor. During this time, election ballots were often stolen, and judges were bribed. The practice of cooping was, unfortunately, very common in Baltimore during election periods.
It is believed that Poe was a victim of this behavior. He was found on election day by his friend, Dr. Joseph Snodgrass, on the street near Ryan’s Fourth Ward Polls, which was both an Irish pub and a place of voting. Snodgrass found him in a severely drunken state, wearing cheap clothes that didn’t fit and were not his usual style. He was rushed to the hospital slipping in and out of consciousness. He died a few days later, reportedly uttering the last words “Lord help my poor soul.”
Edgar Allan Poe burial site at Westminster Hall in Baltimore, Maryland
By Michela Pantano, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: Theories Evermore Surrounding Edgar Allan Poe’s Death
January 18, 2021
January 17, 2021
January 16, 2021
January 15, 2021
Lizzie Borden House Takes An Axe To The Real Estate Market
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[January 11–January 17, 2021] A historic beer cavern, an ancient temple of love, and snakes that giddy-up—all round-up in this week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
History Brews in St. Louis UndergroundMost city undergrounds are home to sewage lines, transit trains, and Ninja Turtles, but researchers have recently unearthed something brewing below the streets of St. Louis, Missouri—a 19th-century beer cave!
Last spring, the McHose and English Cave Recovery team discovered the cavern beneath a community garden in the Benton Park neighborhood, an area popular for brewing back in the 1800s. The complex of natural caves provides a cool place to store beer.
The team was able to drill two small holes from the garden down into the cavern, with two cameras and a lidar scanner providing a sneak peek at the cave’s size and route.
“It’s like 30 feet wide with a ceiling of 7-by-15-feet tall,” said Bill Kranz, the project’s facilitator. “We were all out here in the alley, jumping around like crazy.”
Though the cave may have started as a beer bunker, it has also been home to a mushroom farm and a wine grotto.
Historians and St. Louis residents alike are hop-timistic about the prospect of the revelation.
“It really gives us an opportunity to reconnect with that past and hopefully step foot in a garden that hasn’t been opened in over 100 years,” said Alderman Dan Guenther.
Eye-Catching Cocker Spaniel Goes Viral
‘Beer cave’ from early 1800s discovered in St. Louis neighborhood https://t.co/Gfkjq352o0 pic.twitter.com/9pzjB6p95M
— FOX8 WGHP (@myfox8) January 12, 2021
People pay a lot of money for a nice set of eyelashes these days, but no lashes compare to those of this British cocker spaniel. Feast your eyes on Mabel, a one-year-old cocker spaniel who has the internet at her paws just by batting an eye.
The chocolate working cocker spaniel has gained millions of fans on TikTok after her owner, Caitlin Baker, began posting videos of the pup and her peepers. Videos of Mabel attract upward of 7.5 million views, with comments comparing her to everyone from Disney princesses and Cindy Lou Who from “The Grinch” to Kim Kardashian.
Despite her owner being a professional eyelash technician, Mabel doesn’t need any help in the long lash department.
“Her eyelashes are natural. When we first saw her, we fell in love with her and then noticed her lashes and instantly loved her even more,” said 20-year-old Baker.
Researchers Unearth Ancient Temple of LoveView this post on Instagram
A post shared by Mabel the Cocker Spaniel
(@mabelthecocker_)
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and what better way for archaeologists to say “I love you” than by uncovering a 2,500-year-old Aphrodite temple?
After four years of digging in the Urla-Cesme peninsula, Turkish archaeologists have excavated what is believed to be a sixth-century temple honoring the Greek goddess of love and beauty.
The discovery of artifacts, including a terracotta figure of a female’s head and a statue of a woman, indicated that there was likely a shrine to Aphrodite in the area, as she was “a very common cult at the time,” according to professor Elif Koparal from Mimar Sinan University.
“As we scanned the epigraphic publications, we understood that it was most likely the Temple of Aphrodite. There is also an inscription around the temple. It sets the border with the statement, ‘This is the sacred area,'” added Koparal.
Along with the statues, the archaeology team also found burial mounds and artifacts of settlement dating back to 6,000 B.C. that help tell the story of how a temple to a Greek goddess came to stand all the way in Turkey.
According to Ancient Origins, this evidence suggests that Greek ex-patriots likely moved to the area now occupied by Izmir, around 8,000 B.C.
Koparal and his team are now working with the region’s locals to preserve their discoveries and protect the area against developers and treasure hunters who may come to piggyback on their findings.
CC: Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Giddy Up: Researchers Discover Snakes That LassoSnakes just don’t have enough ways to get around—said no one ever. A new study released Monday reveals that not only can snakes slither, slide, jump, and swim, but they can also turn themselves into a lasso of sorts to wiggle their way into your nightmares.
The accidental discovery was made by researchers from Colorado State University and the University of Cincinnati while in Guam studying Micronesian starlings. This species just so happens to be threatened by invasive snakes.
As part of the conservation effort, tall metal cylinders—called baffles—were used to protect bird boxes from snakes and raccoons. While this worked at first, brown tree snakes soon found their way up the barriers, leaving the researchers, well, baffled.
According to Thomas Siebert, a co-author of the study, he and a colleague watched four hours of video when “all of a sudden, we saw this snake form what looked like a lasso around the cylinder and wiggle its body up.”
This new finding may be crucial in terms of conservation. The brown tree snakes have decimated Guam’s forest bird populations since being accidentally introduced to the island in the late 1940s.
“Understanding what brown tree snakes can and cannot climb has direct implications for designing barriers to reduce the dispersal and some of the deleterious effects of this highly invasive species,” said Bruce Jayne, another co-author of the report.
While snakes are known to climb pipes and branches, the lasso movement differs in that it allows the snake to form a single gripping region to propel it forward.
Snake-haters and bird-lovers fear not! This form of movement is not easy on snakes, with observations noting their slowness, frequent slipping, and heavy breathing on the way up the baffles, signifying that this may be a move of desperation.
Attention all true-crime aficionados! Grab your hatchets and call your real estate agents—the Lizzie Borden house is on the market!
The infamous Massachusetts murder house, which currently operates as Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast Museum, is now listed with an asking price of $2 million.
Along with bragging rights and the six-bedroom house itself, the new owners have the option to continue running the museum and guided tours currently offered at the location, with all business, trade, and intellectual rights included in the sale.
Real estate agent Suzanne St. John said interested buyers have indicated an interest in keeping the business running, as it is “an incredible moneymaker” and “one of the top tourist attractions in New England.”
The 1892 axe murderer Lizzie Borden’s house is up for sale for $2 million, and this is a virtual tour – actually got the heeby-geebies walking around. https://t.co/vi8LfJolhh @DrLindseyFitz
— Phillipa Vincent-Connolly (@PhillipaJC) January 15, 2021
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: Lizzie Borden House Takes An Axe To The Real Estate Market
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