Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 294
January 19, 2019
January 18, 2019
Surviving The Most Extreme Brushes With Death
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
History details some truly unbelievable great escapes. One of the most incredible brushes with death involved Joan Murray.
In 1999, both of Joan’s parachutes failed while skydiving, leaving her to free-fall 14,5000 feet above North Carolina. It would have been certain death if it weren’t for her landing on a mound of stinging red ants. But, it wasn’t the mound that broke her fall and saved her, it was the 200-plus bites from the ants that kept her heart beating and adrenaline pumping. Despite spending two weeks in a coma, she was released from the hospital six weeks later. Joan even skydived again in 2001!
Joan’s more modern survival story is unforgettable, but it was Wenseslao Moguel that caught the attention of Robert Ripley.
The Story of El Fusilado
Pancho Villa was one of the most famous leaders of the Mexican Revolution. After escaping to the United States, Villa’s revolutionaries were still at odds. One of them: Wenseslao Moguel, branded as a traitor, was sentenced as such—to die by firing squad.
During the Mexican Revolution, firing squads were the preferred means of execution. The squad was comprised of nine soldiers who would all fire their weapons at the same time. The tenth shooter, an officer, was to aim at one of the prisoner’s vital organs and deliver the “coup de grace”—the kill shot.
March 18, 195, could be seen as either Wenseslao’s luckiest, or unluckiest day. The Federales took their positions and fired—even the tenth. Assuming he was dead, the job was done and the soldiers left, but Welseslao survived! Although in excruciating pain, he waited until the coast was clear and, miraculously, left the scene to make his way to safety.
Though horribly disfigured, Wenseslao Moguel went on to live a full life, and became legendary thanks to Robert L. Ripley, founder of Ripley’s Believe It or Not!. He appeared on his 1937 radio show and at the Cleveland, Ohio, Odditorium, where he was dubbed El Fusilado—the executed one.
Toto’s Africa Played On Loop In African Desert By Solar-Powered Speakers
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[January 13-9th, 2019] Squirrels attack a nuclear base, the North Pole goes missing, Africa eternal, and the rest of the week’s weird news from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Africa Eternal
An art installation in Africa will play Toto’s “Africa” on loop, powered by the sun. The brainchild of Namibian-German artist Max Siedentopf, he wants this performance of “Africa” to “play for all eternity” in the 55-million-year-old Namib Desert
Squirrel Spies
Malmstrom Air Force base in western Montana houses 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear warheads. Needless to say, safety is paramount to the facility. A group of ground squirrels, however, is proving to be too much. The critters have set off alarms and burrowed through steel barriers throughout the 23,000-square-mile facility.
The Most Liked Image On Instagram
A photo taken in 2015 by Shutterstock photographer Sergei Platonov is the most liked photo on Instagram ever. Posted on January 4, 2019, by @world_record_egg, the account made only one post with the plea that people help it take the top spot from Kylie Jenner. The egg sits with over 47 million likes now, beating out the media mogul by over double.
North Pole Held Hostage
While the geographic North Pole’s location is fixed to wear the Earth spins on its axis, Magnetic North can move around as iron in the Earth’s core flows. Officially, the standard for Magnetic North’s location was set to change on January 15, 2019, but the US government shutdown has meant the location has gone unreleased. Now, the legal location for Magnetic North is in limbo, despite everyone with a compass knowing how to get there.
Giant Ice Disc In Maine
A mysterious and mesmerizing disc of ice appeared in Prescumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine. The monolithic object’s unique appearance attracted so much attention that some people suggested it had been made by aliens. Ice discs, however, are a common occurrence. Formed by ice melting in a slow-moving river, the Prescumscot disc is unusually large. Stretching 300 feet across and moving counterclockwise, crowds seem entranced by the object, and birds are even enjoying riding this natural carousel!
Source: Toto’s Africa Played On Loop In African Desert By Solar-Powered Speakers
January 17, 2019
Court Fools And Jesters Were Actually Very Intelligent
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The Kings and Queens of history have been a confusing bunch, haven’t they? They’ve been respectable, knowledgeable, worthy leaders, and they’ve been shockingly unfit-to-rule disasters. They’ve been as dignified and restrained as Queen Elizabeth II, and they’ve gorged themselves until they were horribly rotund like King Henry VIII.
Heck, Henry VIII was both, if you compare the way he composed himself as a Prince with his later behavior as King.
There are a lot of misconceptions around monarchs, and around a particular member of their entourage: the court jester. This much-maligned figure of fun is often portrayed as somebody we laughed at, rather than laughed with; the clowns of the past in their silly, bell-adorned costumes.
In fact, they were often highly intelligent, savvy entertainers. Before we take a look at what they really were, though, let’s take a closer look at how the court jester tends to be portrayed.
Today, the concept of the court jester often evokes images of somebody who would humiliate themselves for the enjoyment of others. Somebody whose foolishness we could take advantage of, have cruel laughs at.
A lot of sitcoms have a ‘comic relief’ character, where the source of the humor comes from the fact that they misunderstand what the group at large is talking about or doing. Think Homer Simpson, Joey Tribbiani of Friends or Woody from Cheers, for instance. Barely a brain cell to rub together between them, but some of the funniest characters in their respective shows. Again, though, we’re often laughing at them, not with them.
If this how jesters were seen? As people to point and laugh at, like cruel schoolchildren when somebody accidentally calls the teacher ‘mommy’ in first grade? That’s a sweeping generalization, and far from the truth. In reality, the words fool and foolish tend to be misused. To Shakespeare, these people were geniuses!
Stańczyk, by Jan Matejko.
The Polish jester is the only person at a 1514 royal ball troubled by the news that the Russians have captured Smolensk.
As Chris Wiley writes in his ‘Fooling Around: The Court Jesters of Shakespeare’, “Shakespeare wrote many “fools” into his plays, most of whom were treated respectfully… Distinctions must be made within the category of fools, however: clowns, who turn farce into a precise science (think “pie in the face); dunces, who turn their lack of intelligence into a medium for humor; and finally the princes of fooling, the court jesters, who turn fooling into a respectable profession.”
That’s the key thing, here: the court jester, ridiculous as they may look and act, was a crucial and respected member of the court. In fact, they were sometimes given the role of advisor to their King or Queen, relaying information that others dare not.
In one famous case in 1340, King Philippe VI’s French fleet has been soundly smashed in a battle with the British navy. His jester was tasked with bringing the King the news, and, carefully considering his delivery, told him, “they don’t even have the guts to jump into the water like our brave French.” Here’s one example of the true role of a court jester: combining their silly antics with wit and a vital role at their monarch’s side.
It’s no surprise that we’ve got such a confused idea of what the life of a court jester was all about. After all, they did so many things! It wasn’t all making off-color jokes and jingling your bells. That was just an occasional part of their duties. Even the richest nobles and monarchs weren’t constantly throwing banquets for them to perform at, and they wouldn’t want the same person performing the same routine all the time anyway.
As a result, History Extra reports, “medieval jesters only performed occasionally. The rest of the year, they were expected to carry out other duties in the household, such as being keeper of the hounds, or traveling to markets to buy the livestock to feed the family, their servants and their men-at-arms.”
There you are, then. As we can see, being a “Fool” sometimes required you to be very, very un-foolish.
When all is said and done, though, things aren’t as cut and dried as they may seem. Court jesters often were highly intelligent, contrary to popular belief, but the classic image of the poor soul who’s the butt of all the jokes (as well as the source of them) isn’t necessarily 100% wrong either. History Extra sums the whole thing up best, explaining that distinct kinds of fool emerged during the Middle Ages.
“The professional fool employed by a nobleman was usually very astute, educated and generally wore normal clothes, like their masters, rather than the classic fool’s costume,” they explain.
At the same time, though, “wealthy or noble families also adopted men and women who had mental illnesses or physical deformities, keeping them almost as pets for their amusement… Often referred to as ‘innocent fools’ and also given titles such as ‘the Queen’s fool’ or ‘Lord X’s fool’, they were not paid, just provided with food, clothes and a place to sleep on the floor.”
The stark contrast here just goes to prove: you can’t judge a book by its cover, or a fool by their foolishness.
By Chris Littlechild, contributor for Ripleys.com
Source: Court Fools And Jesters Were Actually Very Intelligent
January 16, 2019
The Most Dangerous Festival In The World: Onbashira
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Once every six years, thousands of people gather in the Suwa region to chop, ride, and raise massive 50-foot logs during Japan’s Onbashira Festival—an ancient Shinto tradition that’s been taking place for more than 1,200 years!
Onbashira, or Sacred Pillars, is a two-month-long event to replace the sacred pillars at four shrines, thereby purifying the sites of prayer. The pageantry unfolds in three stages, Yamadashi, Satbiki, and Onbashira.
Yamadashi entails locating and felling 16 massive 150-year-old fir trees. An iconic feature of the region these mammoth firs can each weigh more than ten tons each. Once they are down, woodmen get to work completely removing the branches and bark from the trunk before cutting it to about 50 feet in length. Ropes are stung through the massive hunk of wood and it is often left to dry for a brief period of time.
The second ceremony is called Satbiki, and is perhaps the most well-known outside the region. Hundreds of men haul the logs up steep hills using ropes, then ride down to the shrine while trying there best to stay on the log. It’s considered an incredible honor to ride the logs, but staying on is difficult and very dangerous. The ten-ton logs often leave injuries and can even kill people. Anyone who falls off the log also tries their best to jump back on, but are often repelled by the careening tree trunk or crushed underneath.
After reaching the shrine, the final ceremony is simply called Onbashira and involves raising the log upright with ropes and securing it at the shrine. During this process, riders will still try to hold on and wave streamers from high in the air.
In the past 50 years, there have been fatal incidents at the festival, often involving multiple people. People have been drowned under the logs, crushed under falling logs, and have even fallen from the top while it was being erected. Despite the risks posed by Onbashira, participants consider their deaths honorable if they happen in the festivities.
January 15, 2019
126-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Dinosaur Dung
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
For 126 million years, a very specific record of dinosaur behavior has weathered the eons. Coprolite is the fossilized feces left behind by dinosaurs.
Though coprolite gets its name from the Greek kopros, meaning dung and lithos, meaning rock; there is an urban legend in the paleontologist community regarding the name: In the early 1800s, two dinosaur specialists sparred constantly over fossils and research. Othniel Marsh supposedly named coprolite after his rival Edward Cope in order to forever associate his enemy with dung.
William Buckland, however, officially dubbed the dung.
Buckland, a noted theologian and academic paved the way for paleontology by being one of the first serious scientists to rail against a literal interpretation of the bible. Before his time, scientists refused to believe their own observations because they clashed with their belief in the great flood of Noah’s time. Buckland’s clear-sightedness, however, allowed him to make leaps in our understanding of prehistory that was previously inconceivable to European scientists.
Known for his enthusiastic lectures in which he would pantomime how he thought dinosaurs acted, Buckland was the first to realize just what coprolite was. Inspired by the observations of fossil hunter Mary Anning, he deduced that they were indeed fossilized droppings. He observed that the spiral shape of the coprolites she found was evidence that their intestines were spiraling like a shark and that the ones dyed black with ink belonged to animals that had been eating now-extinct cephalopods.
While coprolite isn’t the actual remains of a dinosaur, they are trace fossils, with much to teach us about how dinosaurs ate. Paleontologists are able to tell if a dinosaur was a carnivore or herbivore, and even what kinds of foods it preferred just from 100-million-year-old dung. Whether a dinosaur had indigestion, was starving, or was full of parasites could all be learned from their feces. In some cases, even more specific knowledge about what the dinosaur was doing, or how it died, can be determined by coprolite.
Though coprolites true nature can sometimes be apparent on the outside, the inside is usually a dazzling array of patterns and colors. Coprolite has long been mined to make stone jewelry. Today, you can find fossilized dinosaur dung wrapped in gold, hanging from peoples ears or from their neck.
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