Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 233
December 9, 2019
Edward Mordrake, The Two-Faced Hoax
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The story of Edward Mordrake is as compelling as it is woeful. The narrative of a doomed man, cursed with a second face on the back of his head, is a staple of “true” horror listicles, medical mystery compilations, and “Did You Know?” image macros.
Yes, Edward Mordrake is a character worth remembering—his tragic tale worth telling.
He was also a complete fabrication.
As the story goes, Mordrake (sometimes “Mordake”) was born into nobility but was cursed with a second face on the back of his head. Sometimes described as a female face, it would only whisper demonic things to him at night, and, driven mad, Mordrake took his own life at the age of 23. This dramatic tale is even “confirmed” in the science textbook Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine in 1896.
The story has staying power, in part because of how disturbing it is, and in part, because it is in some ways plausible. Occasionally, an animal will be born with an extra face, although those rarely live long. Sometimes that’s a result of “craniofacial duplication,” and sometimes it’s a form of conjoined twinning. There was even a man, Chang Tzu Ping, who lived at least to adulthood with an extra mouth and other facial features.
So, what’s to doubt about Mordrake?
First: the idea that the second face could speak raises suspicion. How could it have its own consciousness if it didn’t have its own brain?
But, more importantly, we can look to the origin of the Mordrake tale. Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine only cites “lay sources,” which science historian Alex Boese of hoax.org found. By searching historical newspapers, Boese discovered a verbatim account published in a newspaper just a year before the medical textbook was released. Mordrake was one of several “wonders of modern science,” alongside a spider with a human head, a “fish woman,” and a half-human, half-crab being. The original author’s source for these beings is “The Royal Scientific Society,” which does not and did not exist. Clearly Mordrake was simply a character among others in a work of science fiction that spread far and wide.
Photo courtesy of Ewart Shindler
As for the “photos” of Mordrake and his mummified head: The first is actually a wax sculpture, and the second is made of papier-mâché.
Edward Mordrake makes for a good story. But that’s all he ever was: a tall tale.
By Kristin Hugo, contributor for Ripleys.com
Kristin Hugo is a science journalist with writing in National Geographic, Newsweek, and PBS Newshour. She’s especially experienced in covering animals, bones, and anything weird or gross. When not writing, Kristin is spray painting and cleaning bones in her New York City yard. Find her on Twitter at @KristinHugo , Tumblr at @StrangeBiology , and Instagram at @thestrangebiology .
December 8, 2019
December 7, 2019
December 6, 2019
December 5, 2019
Was The Declaration Of Independence Really Signed On July 4th, 1776?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
We all know the story. As 56 Founding Fathers in stifling wigs and fancy clothes baked in the heat of a Pennsylvania mid-summer day, each waited their turn to sign our Declaration of Independence: a document that represented both an assertion of liberty and each man’s death warrant. After all, Great Britain didn’t take too kindly to treason. (Watch Outlander or Gunpowder if you need a refresher!) In that supreme act of courage and rebellion, our nation was born.
And that’s why the 4th of July is as American as it gets. Apple pie, Little League World Series, Hawaiian shirt American. On the plus side, it’s also the only federal holiday where barbecue, beer, and explosives are required.
But what if I told you we should really celebrate American independence on July 2nd or August 2nd? Keep reading as we present the case for these dates.
The Case for July 2nd, 1776
On July 2nd, 1776, the Second Continental Congress officially declared its freedom from Great Britain. They unanimously approved the Lee Resolution, which announced the Thirteen Colonies “free and independent states.” The Pennsylvania Evening Post reported on America’s official independence later that day.
In a letter dated July 3rd, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail:
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
It’s easy to see Adams’s point in this letter. July 2nd was officially the day that the 13 Colonies pulled off the band-aid and broke away from the British Empire. But the newly-minted American people didn’t feel much like celebrating at the time.
The odds were stacked against them. They were in the thick of a fight with the greatest superpower in the world, and France wouldn’t become an American ally for another year and a half. All told, the American Revolution would drag on until 1781, costing tens of thousands of American lives.
And Then There’s July 4th, 1776
After approval of the resolution, Congress knew they needed a formal document to explain the “divorce” from Britain. Fortunately, one had already been proposed in draft form by the Committee of Five, which included:
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Roger Sherman
Robert Livingston
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson wrote the vast majority, a first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Pouring over the document and debating the merits of its points and language required two days of deliberation. Finally, on July 4th, the Declaration was approved and sent to a printer by the name of John Dunlap.
Back at his printing shop, Dunlap worked feverishly into the night, printing 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence. Each one had the name of John Hancock, President of the Congress, at the bottom.
Known as the Dunlap Broadside, only 26 copies still exist, and they are worth a fortune. In 2000, one lucky individual found an original copy of the document tucked behind a $4 flea market painting. The broadside later sold at auction for $8.1 million!
The Case for August 2, 1776
August 2nd has been referred to by some historians as “the most important and least celebrated day in American history.” That’s when delegates finally started signing the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.
John Hancock’s bold signature appeared smack dab in the middle due to his position as President. The other delegates started signing in the upper right corner. Soon, signatures clustered around Hancock’s, organized into five neat columns from New Hampshire, the northernmost state, down to Georgia, the southernmost.
But here’s the thing, not every delegate who voted in July was able to make it for the August 2nd signing. And the signing turned into a drawn-out affair. According to historian David McCullough, “No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia.”
American Independence Day
After America broke away from Britain, no one really celebrated the Declaration of Independence for the next 15 to 20 years. By the 1790s, the Declaration was considered controversial, with Americans from the Federalist political party openly disapproving of its radical language. Remember, the bloody French Revolution was in full swing at this point, and most Americans wanted to distance themselves from the gruesome antics of the guillotine-wielding French rebels.
But after the War of 1812, the Federalists started to lose power, and new political parties arose that admired Thomas Jefferson and his iconic document. Soon, a new copy of the Declaration of Independence was in circulation with the original printing date of July 4th, 1776. When Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4th, 1826, it cemented the case for the 4th. That said, it took nearly 100 years for America’s Independence Day to be officially recognized as a national holiday by Congress in 1870.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: Was The Declaration Of Independence Really Signed On July 4th, 1776?
Was the Declaration Of Independence Really Signed On July 4th, 1776?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
We all know the story. As 56 Founding Fathers in stifling wigs and fancy clothes baked in the heat of a Pennsylvania mid-summer day, each waited their turn to sign our Declaration of Independence: a document that represented both an assertion of liberty and each man’s death warrant. After all, Great Britain didn’t take too kindly to treason. (Watch Outlander or Gunpowder if you need a refresher!) In that supreme act of courage and rebellion, our nation was born.
And that’s why the 4th of July is as American as it gets. Apple pie, Little League World Series, Hawaiian shirt American. On the plus side, it’s also the only federal holiday where barbecue, beer, and explosives are required.
But what if I told you we should really celebrate American independence on July 2nd or August 2nd? Keep reading as we present the case for these dates.
The Case for July 2nd, 1776
On July 2nd, 1776, the Second Continental Congress officially declared its freedom from Great Britain. They unanimously approved the Lee Resolution, which announced the Thirteen Colonies “free and independent states.” The Pennsylvania Evening Post reported on America’s official independence later that day.
In a letter dated July 3rd, John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail:
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
It’s easy to see Adams’s point in this letter. July 2nd was officially the day that the 13 Colonies pulled off the band-aid and broke away from the British Empire. But the newly-minted American people didn’t feel much like celebrating at the time.
The odds were stacked against them. They were in the thick of a fight with the greatest superpower in the world, and France wouldn’t become an American ally for another year and a half. All told, the American Revolution would drag on until 1781, costing tens of thousands of American lives.
And Then There’s July 4th, 1776
After approval of the resolution, Congress knew they needed a formal document to explain the “divorce” from Britain. Fortunately, one had already been proposed in draft form by the Committee of Five, which included:
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Roger Sherman
Robert Livingston
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson wrote the vast majority, a first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Pouring over the document and debating the merits of its points and language required two days of deliberation. Finally, on July 4th, the Declaration was approved and sent to a printer by the name of John Dunlap.
Back at his printing shop, Dunlap worked feverishly into the night, printing 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence. Each one had the name of John Hancock, President of the Congress, at the bottom.
Known as the Dunlap Broadside, only 26 copies still exist, and they are worth a fortune. In 2000, one lucky individual found an original copy of the document tucked behind a $4 flea market painting. The broadside later sold at auction for $8.1 million!
The Case for August 2, 1776
August 2nd has been referred to by some historians as “the most important and least celebrated day in American history.” That’s when delegates finally started signing the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.
John Hancock’s bold signature appeared smack dab in the middle due to his position as President. The other delegates started signing in the upper right corner. Soon, signatures clustered around Hancock’s, organized into five neat columns from New Hampshire, the northernmost state, down to Georgia, the southernmost.
But here’s the thing, not every delegate who voted in July was able to make it for the August 2nd signing. And the signing turned into a drawn-out affair. According to historian David McCullough, “No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia.”
American Independence Day
After America broke away from Britain, no one really celebrated the Declaration of Independence for the next 15 to 20 years. By the 1790s, the Declaration was considered controversial, with Americans from the Federalist political party openly disapproving of its radical language. Remember, the bloody French Revolution was in full swing at this point, and most Americans wanted to distance themselves from the gruesome antics of the guillotine-wielding French rebels.
But after the War of 1812, the Federalists started to lose power, and new political parties arose that admired Thomas Jefferson and his iconic document. Soon, a new copy of the Declaration of Independence was in circulation with the original printing date of July 4th, 1776. When Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4th, 1826, it cemented the case for the 4th. That said, it took nearly 100 years for America’s Independence Day to be officially recognized as a national holiday by Congress in 1870.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: Was the Declaration Of Independence Really Signed On July 4th, 1776?
December 4, 2019
When Unicorns Walked The Earth
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The next time someone equates a near-impossible feat to the work of “magic and unicorns” hit them with this little party fact—in the 1980s, unicorns actually walked the earth. Well, sort of…
Oberon Zell—headmaster at the Grey School of Wizardry and founder of the Pagan Church of All Worlds—has a long history of involvement in the pagan and magical communities. From 1978-1985 he was most well-known for his caprine creation: nine real unicorns.
“We wanted to reproduce the classic images of Unicorns as seen in the two sets of tapestries: ‘The Hunt of the Unicorn’ and ‘The Ladies and Unicorns’ (5 senses),” Zell explained via email. “The former set culminated with the most famous Unicorn image of all, the ‘Unicorn in Captivity’” and that was the animal we set out to replicate. And we did so perfectly. Cloven hooves, velvet white coat, flowing mane, tufted tail, and—most telling—the beard (only goats have beards).”
Unicorn in Captivity tapestry
Zell knew that others had experimented with creating unicorns, including Dr. W.F. Dove, who had created a bull unicorn in 1933. Zell then perfected and patented a process in which he manipulated the horn buds—which are just under the animals’ skin on their heads—towards the center to form one horn. When the horn grew, voilà! A unicorn is created!
Zell and his partner, Morning Glory, gave one unicorn to a sheep ranch to help the rancher fight off coyotes; two others went to live on a retreat, and the pair kept one as a pet. The last four lived famously as the “real-life unicorns” in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
“Raising and exhibiting unicorns was all Morning Glory and I did from 1978-1985,” said Zell. The unicorns became a sensation, headlining in The Greatest Show on Earth as, “The Living Unicorn: Seeing is Believing.”
Photo courtesy of Oberon Zell
People reacted “with astonishment,” said Zell. “Sometimes disbelief. But mostly with wonder and delight at the “impossible dream” come true. But, some people refused to acknowledge them as genuine unicorns, and insisted on calling them such things as ‘goaticorns,’ or ‘unigoats.’”
But they were real animals in antiquity, recreated in a more modern setting, Zell says. Perhaps the real “extinction” of the unicorn is their disappearance from modern memory. For as popular as the circus unicorns were in the 80’s, they are rarely spoken of today.
Will the unicorns rise again? Perhaps. “Our granddaughter wants to be a ‘Unicorn Maiden’ like her mother and grandma,” says Zell. “So maybe we’ll create one more and see where that goes…”
By Kristin Hugo, contributor for Ripleys.com
Kristin Hugo is a science journalist with writing in National Geographic, Newsweek, and PBS Newshour. She’s especially experienced in covering animals, bones, and anything weird or gross. When not writing, Kristin is spray painting and cleaning bones in her New York City yard. Find her on Twitter at @KristinHugo , Tumblr at @StrangeBiology , and Instagram at @thestrangebiology .
Source: When Unicorns Walked The Earth
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