Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 264
July 3, 2019
July 2, 2019
The Victorian Skirt Lifter: Lurid Or Liberating?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
During the Victorian Era, women’s fashion could be highly impractical. Full-length skirts weighing up to fourteen pounds, comprised of six layers of petticoats, were as debilitating to female ambulation as a prisoner’s ball and chain. While these skirts may have been the fashion of the time, many women felt they were a form of oppression, and created a number of fashion innovations to regain their mobility.
The weight of multiple petticoats was eventually reduced thanks to the crinoline—a beehive-shaped frame that supported the skirt from underneath. Not only did these devices reduce weight, but they also gave women’s legs room to move.
Now free to take at least a step forward, women still usually had to occupy one or two hands to hold their skirt up so it wouldn’t get dirty. A dirty skirt could affect social standings in ways that were apocalyptic to Victorian society, earning them the ire of their friends, social acquaintances, and even husbands.
The skirt lifter attempted to solve this problem in 1846. It was a small clamp that would be attached mid-way up the skirt and then tied to the waist. The skirt lifter held the hem up without the need for hands. This meant a woman could engage in all sorts of activities previously made off-limits by fashion expectations of the day. Alas, badminton, tennis, ice skating, and croquet could now be fully enjoyed!
British fashions changed at break-neck speeds during the Victorian Era. England was enjoying great economic growth while leading the way in the Industrial Revolution. With access to capital and mass-produced sewing machines, trends lasted years instead of decades. This meant women got used to adapting their accessories to changing styles and needs.
The skirt lifter paved the way for a sort of female Victorian utility belts, where women strapped all kinds of things to their dresses. Sometimes, even using skirt lifters as more general clips and clamps. Skirt lifters helped women get their foot in the door of exercise and sports, but by the turn of the century, they were no longer needed. Women shed their skirts to take an even more active role in the world, enjoying bicycles and cars—two inventions finally tantalizing enough to throw off the hoop skirt for good!
Interview With An Exorcist – Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast Episode 004
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The conviction that demons exist, and that they exist to harass, derange, and smite human beings stretches back as far as religion itself.
This week on the Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast, Brent and Ryan talk to Father Vincent Lampert, a Catholic priest and the official exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. Father Lampert trained under long-time Italian exorcist, Father Carmine de Filippis, assisting in over 40 exorcisms.
The Demon House
For more weird news and strange stories, visit our homepage, and be sure to rate and share this episode of the Notcast!
Source: Interview With An Exorcist – Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast Episode 004
July 1, 2019
The Bird That Was Almost 1,000 Pounds
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Around 1.5-2 million years ago, a giant bird ran across the arid landscape of Crimea. The animal, Pachystruthio dmanisensis, was 11 and a half feet tall, had a long neck and long legs, and was as heavy as a grand piano. This was one of the biggest known birds to ever live.
Pachystruthio looked something like a modern ostrich, which is the largest bird alive today. However, the ancient avian was four times as heavy, weighing in at nearly a thousand pounds. While Pachystruthio isn’t a recent discovery, researchers just published a new study regarding how big it was and how it lived.
Until now, there had been no giant birds in this group discovered in the northern hemisphere. But paleontologists in the northern Black Sea region, searching the recently-discovered Taurida cave, found some long, thin, ostrich-like bones. Then, Russian researchers identified the bones and made calculations of the animal’s size, based on comparisons to modern and ancient birds alike. They published their research today in The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Pachystruthio is one of the biggest birds ever discovered, but there are a few that are even heavier: Dromornis stirtoni and Vorombe titan. Both animals stood nearly 10 feet tall and had long, ostrich-like legs, with tiny wings, too small for flying. The animals likely lived in a similar way to modern ostriches, but there’s not enough data yet to determine whether they were closely related.
The two larger species may have been too large and heavy for running fast, too. However, the long, thin bone of Pachystruthio indicates that it could have been adapted for running fast through the wide open fields of its habitat. That would have been a useful adaptation, as it lived alongside giant hyenas, saber-toothed cats, giant cheetahs, and the deadly, intelligent, early humans.
The authors of the study suggest that early humans may have killed and eaten the large bird and its eggs. Imagine how many people a 1,000-lb chicken could feed!
By Kristin Hugo, contributor for Ripleys.com
Seals Taught To Sing The Star Wars Theme And Mimic Human Speech
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
This Week
[June 23-29th, 2019] Singing seals, flushed fish, albino alligators, and the rest of the week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Seals Taught To Sing
Researchers at the University of St. Andrews have taught three seals—Zola, Janice, and Gandalf—to sing the opening bars of a number of songs. The seals were easily taught to make vocalizations—including music and human speech—in exchange for fish. The results produced seals that can sing the Star Wars theme and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”
Flushed Fish
While it might be common practice to flush unwanted goldfish down the toilet, scientists warn that this practice can wreak havoc on the environment. Just this week, officials pulled a kitten-sized goldfish out of the Niagara River. Tens of millions of goldfish are estimated to have been flushed into the Great Lakes, where they can grow and destroy the habitats of native fish.
Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper
Albino Alligator Eggs
When we visited Wild Florida to have lunch with an alligator last year, we also met Blizzard and Snowflake, a pair of albino alligators that were one of the last viable breeding pairs known to exist. They seem to have finally produced a clutch of eggs, meaning there may be more white snow-white gators on the way.
Jersey Terrorized By Feral Chickens
People aren’t sure where the flock of angry chickens came from, but they’re waking up locals, tearing apart yards, blocking traffic, and chasing joggers. Officials have tried culling the chickens, but since the disappearance of foxes, the chickens have no natural predator to keep them in check.
Man Finds His Hockey Puck After 70 Years
Ray Ulvi is an 88-year-old cane maker living in Duluth, Minnesota. While foraging for new branches, he stumbled upon something he had lost 70-something years ago. Thinking it was a snuff can at first, he slowly realized the letters carved into the object were his own initials. It was a hockey puck he used as a kid about a block away!
Source: Seals Taught To Sing The Star Wars Theme And Mimic Human Speech
June 30, 2019
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