Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 169
December 11, 2020
Tasmanian Devils Get A Glow Up
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[December 7-December 13, 2020] A tumbleweed takeover, lucrative venom, and glow-in-the-dark marsupials—all round-up in this week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Town Gets Trapped by the Tumbleweeds
Forget about lone tumbleweeds of Western films past, it’s 2020, and this time they’re taking over! Residents of an Australian suburb were blown away when heavy winds carried so many tumbleweeds into town that they could not leave their houses.
Hillside had a ‘hairy panic’ incident today (images via @7NewsAustralia) pic.twitter.com/0jVpsjV8W5
— Asher Wolf (@Asher_Wolf) December 5, 2020
The “hairy panic,” as events of this nature are known in Australia, rocked the Melbourne suburb of Hillside as tumbleweeds, measuring up to 14 feet high, rolled into their yards, blocking the windows and doors of homes belonging to residents like Claire Pigott.
Pigott and her family cleared the yard one day, only to be thwarted by 68 mph winds carrying a new batch of tumbleweeds the next. The weeds are believed to tumbled over from an unmaintained property outside of town, with residents claiming that the town refuses to help remove the mess.
It sounds like they may be stuck in the weeds for a while!
Texas Man Knocks Chicken Coop Design Out of the Park
Texas resident, and lifelong Houston Astros fan, Darren Johnson, has a hit on his hands after building a scale replica of the Astrodome for his chickens to enjoy.
The famous Astros stadium may have closed 20 years ago, but Johnson remembers it like it was yesterday and spared no detail when constructing the coop. The miniature dome features the Astros logos, retired player numbers, and a U.S. flag that makes all of his chickens feel right at home—especially considering they are all named after Astros players.
“We don’t have to tell them to get in,” said Johnson, “they get in there every night.”
It took Johnson about 100 hours to build the 1:60 scale replica, but it was time well spent for the Houston native, who hopes his creation going viral will “show my kids that I’m not the only one obsessed with a stadium that’s been closed for 20 years.”
Eggcellent! Astros fan creates amazing Astrodome chicken coop https://t.co/gbx4GIO26V
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) November 17, 2020
Egyptian Man Scores Big with Scorpion Venom
A 25-year-old Egyptian man is making quite the name for himself after abandoning his dream of becoming an archaeologist to hunt scorpions.
Mohamed Hamdy Boshta left school several years ago to travel Egypt’s deserts, searching for scorpions that he could extract venom from to sell for medicinal use. Hunting scorpions can be a lucrative gig, considering that one gram of venom goes for $10,000 and can produce 20,000 to 50,000 doses of antivenom to be used in other medicines, including those for Rheumatoid arthritis and bone cancer.
In just a few years, Boshta’s venture, called Cairo Venom Company, has grown to a small empire that includes a collection of 80,000 scorpions in addition to a variety of snakes.
Nazi Enigma Surprises Do-Good Divers
A diving team looking to do some good in the world returned from the Baltic sea’s floor with a nefarious piece of history instead—a Nazi coding machine!
What began as a conservation mission to retrieve old fishing nets from the waters took a turn when divers stumbled upon what they thought was an old typewriter. Upon resurfacing, they quickly discovered it was not a typewriter, but rather an Enigma machine once used to encode Nazi military messages.
These secret-keeping typing machines were used to prevent Allies from learning German military strategies, including troop placements and attack plans. Users were able to type a real message that would then get scrambled by the machine’s rotors. The receiver would decode the message by readjusting the rotors to the correct position, causing the machine to spit out the intended text.
The underwater archaeologist Florian Huber examines the found Enigma (World Wildlife Fund)
The number of rotors located in the discovered Enigma machine and its discovery in northeast Germany suggests that it was used on warships and possibly discarded into the waters toward the end of World War II.
The machine is currently in the process of a yearlong restoration at a German archaeology museum in Schleswig-Holstein.
Tasmanian Devils Get a Glow Up
You may know them for their supernatural screams, aggressive eating habits, or perhaps from the beloved “Looney Tunes” character, but did you know that Tasmanian devils glow in the dark? This week, researchers at Toledo Zoo in Ohio discovered that these surly marsupials light up like a Christmas tree when under ultraviolet light.
The Tasmanian devil’s hidden talent was brought to light when the zoo’s staff became curious about biofluorescence in the animals after the recent discovery of the same phenomenon in wombats and platypuses just a few weeks ago.
When placed under a UV light, the animal absorbed the light waves, causing the skin around its snout, eyes, and inner ears to immediately emit a blue glow.
A statement posted on the Zoo’s Facebook page indicates that they believe they are the first-ever to document the phenomenon in a Tasmanian devil.
Biofluorescence is not unheard of in the animal world, most commonly occurring in deep-sea marine creatures who use the light to attract prey.
It is yet to be determined whether the interesting trait serves an ecological purpose in Tasmanian devils or if they are simply blessed with natural selfie lighting.
By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
THE STRANGEST STORIES OF THE YEAR
Now that you’ve read the strangest stories of the week, how about the strangest stories of the year? Ripley’s all-new annual is an all-true collection of incredible facts, unexpected stories, and stunning photography!
Source: Tasmanian Devils Get A Glow Up
December 10, 2020
December 9, 2020
Art That Goes Against The Grain
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
You may be familiar with beach town arts and crafts projects, but art studio FallingInSand goes totally against the grain with their truly mesmerizing sand art pieces. Featured in our latest annual, Mind Blown!, artist James Sun from Toronto, Canada, uses detailed precision and a very steady hand to create amazing lifelike sand portraits and other designs, including images of celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Tom Hanks.
Sun uses his intricate talents to create long-lasting pieces in all shapes and sizes, from pendants to fish bowls. His artwork takes shape by pouring colored, eco-friendly sand from Jordan into various receptacles. The sand is carefully washed, purified, and dyed in advance for maximum effect.
Each piece is painstakingly crafted using only a simple funnel, and the results are impressive. From Nicolas Cage to Chadwick Boseman, Sun seamlessly reproduces their visages in one of nature’s most bountiful elements—sand.
In 2018, Sun started filming his process, and millions of people have tuned in to see his videos—which are both relaxing and therapeutic. Watching the sand falling can calm your nerves and, at least for a moment, erase some of life’s daily stresses. Music is carefully selected to match the piece and the message conveyed.
The videos are time-lapsed to condense the number of hours that go into each project. Sun told Ripley’s that it takes several hours to create small projects but as long as an entire week to complete a big one.
He likes to reveal emotions and feelings in his work and considers art a way for the human spirit to express itself. He makes art pieces, necklaces, videos, and more in both 2D and 3D formats for special occasions, including birthdays, weddings, and pet memorials. Most of his sand art is largely centered on themes of peace, love, and friendship. If you want to see some of his latest creations, check out FallingInSand on Instagram, or read about them in our latest annual, Mind Blown!, on sale now.
By Noelle Talmon, 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: Art That Goes Against The Grain
December 8, 2020
Parts In Motion: Skating With Matt Tomasello
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Skateboarder Matt Tomasello of Boston, Massachusetts, showcases mind-boggling tricks on his custom-made, modified skateboards!
Taking inspiration from complex trick videos, Tomasello aims to make otherwise-impossible maneuvers possible with decks that fold, unfold, rotate, and have trapdoors! Surrounded in his workshop by dozens of old skateboards, he sketches out his ideas before using power tools, home hardware, and bit and pieces from previous boards to construct new contraptions designs for creating and testing unique moves.
Learn more about Matt’s flippin’ awesome creations in Ripley’s latest annual, Mind Blown!, on sale now! Have an unbelievable feat of your own? You could be featured in next year’s annual publication! Submit your Believe It or Not! to our team here.
December 7, 2020
The Terrible Tale Of Hans Trapp, The Christmas Scarecrow
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The holidays are seen as a time of peace, goodwill, and generosity. We gather with friends and family, share gifts, and eat huge, decadent meals with all the trimmings. At the root of all of these celebrations, however, is a very dark and grim past.
The legend of Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus himself, began with the tale of the Greek bishop of Myrna, a Roman town in Turkey in the late-third to the early-fourth century. As one fantastical story goes, Bishop Nicholas once discovered that an innkeeper had murdered three children and cut their bodies into pieces. And yet, Nicholas was still able to revive them!
Along with the many good deeds of this zealous Christian in a time of heavy persecution, these tales cemented Nicholas’s place as a saint, a protector of children, and a generous gift-giver. If Santa Claus himself can revive the dead, though, wait until you meet the fearsome ‘anti-Santa:’ Hans Trapp, the Christmas scarecrow!
Who Was Hans Trapp?
For as long as there has been a jolly old Saint Nick providing gifts for well-behaved children, there has been someone–or something—else filling the role of his counterpart: punishing the naughty ones. These fearsome figures range from the iconic horned Krampus to Perchta, the shape-shifting Christmas witch who fills disobedient children’s bellies with straw. The terrifying Hans Trapp is possibly the worst of all, though. One story, in particular, describes an instance in which he stabbed a child, sliced him into tiny pieces, and cooked and ate his flesh!
A 1900s greeting card featuring Krampus
The legend of the Christmas scarecrow is well known in the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine. Hans Trapp, according to the story, lived in the 1400s; a rich, powerful, and merciless man who was feared by the people of Alsace. His thirst for power was so great that he turned to deals with the Devil to enhance his power and status. Hearing of this, the Pope himself excommunicated Trapp, after which he was banished from Alsace and his wealth and lands confiscated. All of which is nothing compared to what came next!
The Christmas Boogeyman
Trapp was reduced to constructing a makeshift home in the mountains of Bavaria in Germany, and the legend goes on. Here, he continued to brood and his evil desires festered. He developed a hankering to try the taste of human flesh. Finally, he became the dreaded Christmas scarecrow: adorned in straw as a disguise, he waited on lonely roads for a victim.
A boy aged around ten happened across his path one day, and Trapp stabbed the unfortunate shepherd’s boy with a vicious sharp stick. With the body safely back at his lair, Trapp sliced it into pieces and roasted it, but before he could eat, he was struck by a divine lightning bolt and killed. Today, naughty children are warned that Hans Trapp’s spirit lingers on and that he may visit them in his scarecrow disguise if they don’t mend their ways. A popular boogeyman and a frightening tall tale, you may think, but nothing more than that. Sadly, though, we’ve got some bad news: the story seems to have been inspired by the incredible true tale of a real person!
The Man Who Inspired The Legend?
Hans von Trotha was a knight who lived from 1450 to 1503. He commanded two castles in the Palatine (French/German) territory but became embroiled in an argument with the church over the property in one of them. The abbot would not concede certain properties to von Trotha, so the embittered knight stopped the supply of water to the nearby town of Weissenburg with a dam. In retaliation, the abbot had the dam destroyed, which flooded the villagers’ homes and businesses. The dispute continued until, just as with Hans Trapp, the knight was summoned by the Pope himself and excommunicated!
While there’s no record of von Trotha turning to cannibalism and hunting children while dressed as a scarecrow, what we know of Hans von Trotha’s life is also extraordinary. Even the Emperor’s intervention wasn’t enough to put a stop to the knight’s battle with the abbot of Weissenburg Abbey, which is exactly why Pope Innocent VIII came into the picture in the first place. On his summoning to successor Alexander VI’s Papal court, von Trotha refused to attend. Instead, he sent a letter to the Pope which expounded on von Trotha’s faith while accusing the Pope of all manner of impure acts!
Even excommunicated, the wily von Trotha did well for himself. Serving the French royal court, he was given the Chevalier d’Or by King Louis XII. On his death, all charges against him were reversed and forgiven. Something of his notoriety lived on, though, and not only in Hans Trapp. Local legends also referred to him as the Black Knight, a formidable specter that was also sometimes said to accompany Santa Claus and punish children who were unworthy of gifts.
By Chris Littlechild, 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 Terrible Tale Of Hans Trapp, The Christmas Scarecrow
December 6, 2020
Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog
- Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s profile
- 52 followers
