Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 298
December 31, 2018
Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Their skulls are separated from their beaks, with an air cushion softening blows. They also have a third eyelid that keeps their eyeballs from flying out of their heads.
These features help keep the woodpecker safe. They also have tongues that wrap all the way around their brains!
December 30, 2018
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December 25, 2018
The Real Hoverboard From Back To The Future
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
An almanac may have been far too powerful to bring to the past, but a hoverboard? The tool instrumental to the exploits of Michael J. Fox’s time-traveling Marty McFly would have ended on more than one occasion if not for the help of the futuristic skateboard.
While trying to escape Griff and his gang of thugs from the fantastical future of 2015, Fox nabs the board from a little girl. Initially equipped with a handle, his character snaps it off to provide the hoverboard with its iconic look. Held aloft by “magnetic energy,” the board required no wheels or pavement to operate. The rider merely kicked along unless they had “powah.”
Though many of the futuristic technologies depicted by the film are memorable, the hoverboard seems to have gotten the most screen time, traveling back to 1965 and 1885.
A futuristic interpretation of the skateboard used by Marty in the first movie, the pink colors and child-friendly “Mattel” branding bring it in line with director Robert Zemeckis’s consumerist world-to-be. The prop was made using a simple plank of wood covered in graphics, velcro, and molded “gravity pads.”
An iconic piece of Hollywood history today, the hoverboard was instantly popular with audiences when the film premiered. In an interview, Zemeckis jokingly said that the hoverboard was indeed real, but had been taken off store shelves because parents didn’t want their kids floating around. This reportedly caused mass hysteria, with thousands of youngsters roving from store to store looking for real hoverboards.
World’s 10 Weirdest Christmas Traditions
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
While our own fascination with fruit cake and socks may be weird enough for some, let us take you around the world to find some of the most bizarre Christmas traditions and lore:
Japan: Eats KFC for Christmas
Greenland: Likes to eat raw whale skin and decomposed birds
Wales: Parades the town carrying a horse skull
Ukraine: Decorates trees with spooky spiders
India: Makes due with fruit trees
The Alps: Watches out for Krampus
Iceland: Fears a wardrobe-judging cat
Norway: Hides brooms to stave off witches
Czech Republic: Throws shoes in hopes of marital bliss
Venezuela: Skates to Christmas mass
Celebrate the holidays and enter the Ripley’s 12 Weirds of Christmas contest. Enter every day for a chance to win more prizes. If you win one day, you also win all of the prizes from previous days.
Enter Day 12 to win all of the previous days’ prizes plus the grand prize, a trip for two to the VIP New Year’s Party at Times Square in New York City!
Good luck, and may your holidays be EERIE and bright!
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