Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 358
March 6, 2018
Vegas in Miniature: The Hammargren House of Nevada History
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Just past the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, the Strip represents the ultimate Postmodern mishmash of impossible landscapes. Its larger-than-life collection of bizarre, “borrowed” monuments—from the Eiffel Tower at the Paris to the Luxor’s pyramid to the Venetian’s Grand Canal—has to be seen to be believed. Despite the kitschy weirdness and suffocating tourist trap vibe, experiencing the cacophony of neon lights and surreal casino-scapes is exhilarating, but it’s impossible to weed through the juxtaposition, to make sense of what’s where and why. The same goes for its miniature version, tucked away in Sin City’s suburbs, the Hammargren Home of Nevada History.
The house’s main staircase is from Liberace’s Vegas show.
Comprised of three houses near South Sandhill Road and East Flamingo Road, the Hammargren Home is one of the most fascinating microcosms of the Vegas-verse ever assembled. “The first house I bought here when I moved in 1971. I kept adding and adding to it, and then the second house came up for sale next to it, and so I bought that one. By then, I had a lot of things related to astronomy and the skies. Then, I bought the third house and that’s the house that my wife had a lot of input in designing and that’s where we actually live,” Hammargren recounts.
At its height, the Hammargren Home of Nevada boasted a collection of more than 10,000 randomly juxtaposed items that cost its owner, former Lieutenant Governor Dr. Lonnie Hammargren, an estimated $10 million. “My collection was gathered from all over the world. I’ve traveled everywhere except Antarctica. But I’ve been most interested by things like the pyramids constructed thousands of years ago by people who didn’t have machinery or technology to rely on.” A significant portion of the collection also paid tribute to Las Vegas’s history and that of the greater state of Nevada, preserving cast-off items of timeless value.
Besides pieces related to archaeology and history, Hammargren Home showcased a life-sized Apollo spacecraft model built by NASA, a submarine, an indoor barbershop brothel, an underground mine, a miniature replica of the Taj Mahal, a full-size Tyrannosaurus Rex, an animatronic tiger, and Liberace’s staircase… among many, many others. No order, theme, or logic constrained the admixture of artifacts. If it caught Hammargren’s attention, it made the collection: “It was all just done for the fun of it. That’s the main reason.”
The coup de grâce (no pun intended) of the collection was an Egyptian burial chamber fitted with a golden tomb where Hammargren planned to be interred post-mortem… How exactly do you get zoned for that?
On March 31, 2007, Hammargren hosted his own funeral—the “Awake Wake”— featuring a New Orleans-style jazz funeral march and his burial in the Egyptian-inspired, gilded sarcophagus under the basement. Hammargren emerged an hour later no worse for the wear proving yet again that everything’s a show in Vegas. Why would it be any different at the Hammargren Home?
Of course, Vegas is also known for high-stakes gambling, and Hammargren couldn’t beat the odds when it came to staking his fortune on unchecked collecting. The first winds of woe came to light during an appearance on A&E’s Hoarders on December 18, 2016, when Hammargren admitted that he and his wife, Sandy, were mired in $750,000 of debt and unable to pay the mortgage on their main home, Castillo del Sol, where the majority of his collection resided. Fast forward through an auction and foreclosure, and the fate of the Hammargren Home of Nevada History appeared forever sealed. That is, until fate intervened…
Amber Fredericks, a longtime fan of Hammargren’s eclectic collection, and her husband bought the home. “It was my childhood dream home. I used to drive down Sand Hill with my mom and got to drive by and see what new things Lonnie’d put in his backyard. I never knew that it was open to the public. I’d never been inside until I walked through with my realtor. We didn’t think we’d get it, but my husband and I put in a bid anyway. It’s been quite an adventure.”
While others might have been off put by Hammargren’s weird collection, Amber represents his perfect partner in crime: “I collect weird stuff, too, so I intend on filling the house with as many weird things as I can. We weren’t here when the auctions happened, and even if we had been, we didn’t know at the time that we’d end up in Lonnie’s house. But after we got the house, I called around to see if I could find any of the stuff that had been sold at auction. I found the guy who’d bought the submarine, and we were able to buy it back. I’m trying to reacquire as many parts of the collection as possible because I want to restore the house staying true to its history.”
Despite Amber’s shared interest in collecting bizarre pieces, the greatest benefit of living in Castillo del Sol hasn’t been the stuff or the building. It’s been her neighbors. “The best part of owning the house has been Lonnie and Sandy. Anytime he wants to store stuff, I tell him to bring it back home. The collection went over to the middle house, and the middle house doesn’t have the same space offerings as this one, so many of the pieces are currently outside. I want to keep the history of this place and its collection alive.”
Among the biggest nuisances of living at Castillo del Sol are the people who randomly show up and insist on tours of the home. “All of the websites have my address on them versus the middle house. On weekends, more than fifty people drive by our house daily. We’ll be dealing with the unwanted attention for the rest of our lives as we don’t ever plan on leaving this house.” While Amber isn’t averse to showing people around, she wishes to maintain the privacy of a residential dwelling, and she asks that people be polite, respectful, and understanding of the fact this is her home, not a museum. Yes, people actually live in Vegas, and they need privacy, too!
As for Hammargren, he plans on continuing the tradition of opening his home to the public on Nevada Day weekends (the last weekend of October) to show off his collection, and he says there will be other times, too. For a private tour by appointment, contact him at: (702) 596-6669. But be aware that Hammargren’s collection is now housed at 4212 Ridgecrest Drive.
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com.
Source: Vegas in Miniature: The Hammargren House of Nevada History
March 5, 2018
The Devilish Baboon Incident of the Hellfire Club
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The Hellfire Club probably needs no introduction, as it was one of the most notorious men’s clubs in all of history. Its members frequently got together and reportedly committed weird, depraved, and sordid acts, most of which took place in the Hellfire Caves, a labyrinth of underground, man-made caverns over half a mile long in High Wycombe, England, specifically created for the purposes of this strange club.
The entrance to the Hellfire Caves, a labyrinth of underground, man-made caverns over half a mile long in High Wycombe, England.
During its heyday in the mid-18th century, the club was known as the Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe, so named for its leader Sir Francis Dashwood. Dashwood and his club mates-most of them other respected men of British society including prime ministers, members of Parliament, and so on-likely dabbled in womanizing, gambling, and potentially even sacrifices to pagan gods, although there is no exact record of what went on in this legendary club.
Among the stories of the club’s seedy shenanigans is one involving a baboon. The story, outrageous as it is, could potentially be used to answer a few questions about the political fallout between John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, and John Wilkes, a journalist and politician, who were both known members of the Hellfire Club.
Over the entrance to the caves sits le Despenser coat of arms, honoring Francis Dashwood, Baron le Despenser, in the 18th century.
What Happened with the Baboon?
There are many different accounts of the baboon-related incident, but suffice it to say that most point the finger of blame squarely at Wilkes who allegedly brought the animal (dressed to look like the devil) into one of the Hellfire Club’s raucous parties. Certain accounts speak of him letting it loose on one of their rituals while others state he rigged a chest to spring open when he pulled a string, which released the baboon. However, in every version of the story, the monkey always ends up in the vicinity of the Earl of Sandwich.
As the tale goes, the Earl was so frightened by the beast (as he believed it to be the devil himself) that he reportedly begged it to spare him, saying he was “but half a sinner” and not as wicked as some of the other men in the room. Doubtless, if this truly did occur, it would have been a dreadful embarrassment for Montagu who may have never lived it down.
Hard pass on getting stuck in these tunnels with a devilish baboon.
The Falling Out Between Montagu and Wilkes
It’s possible to chalk the story up to urban legend since there is no absolute proof that it happened, but we do know for certain that Montagu and Wilkes, who had once been friends, found themselves at odds around the early 1760s. The Earl of Sandwich began an attack on Wilkes within Parliament, hoping to strip him of both his position and his immunity from persecution. Montagu acquired copies of Wilkes’ “Essay on Woman,” a bawdy and illicit parody of which Wilkes had illegally printed copies, and used it to have him tried for seditious libel.
Wilkes slunk away to Paris while he was tried in abstentia and found guilty. He was expelled from Parliament in 1764, which was the same time the Hellfire Club began to fall apart. The caves themselves still exist and are open as a tourist attraction to curious visitors.
No one really knows why the Earl of Sandwich suddenly turned on Wilkes, but it could have been the result of an ill-considered prank involving a baboon that Montagu never forgave.
By Julia Tilford, contributor for Ripleys.com
March 4, 2018
March 3, 2018
March 2, 2018
Vatican Ramps Up Exorcism Training as Possession Reports Skyrocket
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
[February 25th-March 3rd, 2018] Cloned doggos, a rare bird, networking on the moon, and exorcism training from the Vatican in your weird new roundup from Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Send in the Clones
Cloned canines are becoming more and more popular. In a recent interview, Barbara Streisand revealed that two of her three dogs were cloned from her 14-year-old Coton du Tulear who died last year. She dresses each in a different colored sweater to tell them apart, calling one Miss Scarlet and the other Miss Violet. Despite being clones, she insists they have different personalities.
Yellow Cardinal
Each January, birders all over the country hope for a big year, but seldom does their cataloging of songbirds feature something as rare as a yellow cardinal. Renowned for their striking red plumage, the yellow bird carries a special mutation causing its unique color. According to biologist Geoffrey Hill at Auburn University, the bird is one in a million, having never encountered one in 40 years.
Floe Rider
Fleeing the scene of an alleged assault, 35-year-old Canadian Mike Delahunt fled police by jumping on a floating piece of ice in the Petitcodiac River. In a stunt straight out of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, he eluded police refusing to cooperate with rescue teams. He floated a long way with police standing by, the ice melting as he went along. Eventually, he bumped into shore and was safely apprehended.
Rescue mission underway for man floating on ice patch down Petitcodiac River: https://t.co/TOakkmiVTp pic.twitter.com/S3ZdxHk2Vn
— CBC New Brunswick (@CBCNB) February 22, 2018
Can You Hear Me Now?
Nokia and Vodafone are teaming up to bring a mobile phone network to the moon. In what would be the first private space mission to the lunar surface, they hope to set up a 4G network using lunar rovers by the end of 2019. The network would allow people to stream HD video in real-time from the Moon!
Nearly 50 years after man first went to the moon, we’re teaming up with @Nokia, @PTScientists and @Audi to create the first 4G network on the moon. More details about the out of this world plan here: https://t.co/UmaRxgvtx1 pic.twitter.com/jvto8zLSv4
— Vodafone Enterprise (@VodafoneVGE) March 1, 2018
Call for More Exorcists
According to the Vatican, demand for exorcisms is on the rise. Sicilian priest Benigno Palilla is a church-trained exorcist who says requests for his services have tripled in recent years and claimed that 500,000 cases of possession are recorded in Italy every year. To combat this, he says the church is setting up a training course in Rome to teach priests the proper procedures for exorcisms. He notes that self-taught exorcists can lead to many problems.
Source: Vatican Ramps Up Exorcism Training as Possession Reports Skyrocket
What Is Still Standing After Chernobyl’s Nuclear Nightmare?
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Releasing at least 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is responsible for history’s worst man-made disaster.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant a few weeks after the disaster.
Meltdown Countdown
February 1986
Ukraine’s Minister of Power and Electrification states that the odds of a meltdown at Chernobyl’s nuclear power plant are “one in 10,000 years.”
April 26, 1986
1:23:04 a.m. Routine testing begins.
1:24 a.m. Pressure builds in reactor Number 4, causing an explosion that immediately releases deadly radiation into the air. Thirty separate fires ignite.
1:45 a.m. Firefighters arrive, unaware of the risk of radiation.
April 27, 1986
2:00 p.m. Evacuations begin for all resident six miles from the plant. It took 3 ½ hours to evacuate Pripyat’s 43,000 residents.
Ahead of schedule, the Pripyat Amusement Park opened, briefly, during the evacuation in an attempt to keep residents positive.
Radiation abound, the Pripyat Amusement Park was in operation during evacuation.
Abandoned Amusement
Ukraine’s Pripyat Amusement Park was slated to open on May 1, 1986, but things did not go according to plan. Instead, it operated for just a few hours following the fallout, while the town was being evacuated. Today, with radiation levels in some parts of the park still dangerously high, the rides remain eerily unridden and rusty.
The Sarcophagus
The reactor responsible for the disaster was entombed in a sarcophagus of steel and concrete to contain the radiation, but it started leaking. Luckily, a new cover for the reactor was completed in 2016. This mighty arch is billed as the “largest movable land-based structure ever built,” and is seen as an important step toward ultimately dismantling the still dangerous reactor.
Alongside the Chernobyl victims memorial, the covered reactor sits tall enough to cover the Statue of Liberty.
The cover, which is tall enough to contain the Statue of Liberty and spans nearly the length of three football fields, is designed to secure the site for at least 100 years. But, not everything is safe…
Elephant’s Foot
Today, there is still a structure at the heart of the plant, known as the Elephant’s Foot, that is incredibly radioactive. A melted lava-like mixture, the Elephant’s Foot is so deadly that 30 seconds of exposure will cause severe dizziness. Within two minutes, cells begin to hemorrhage. Five minutes is fatal. As it continues to melt through the concrete base of the power plant, the city remains uninhabitable for at least the next 100 years.
Five minutes of exposure to the Elephant’s Foot is fatal.
Source: What Is Still Standing After Chernobyl’s Nuclear Nightmare?
March 1, 2018
Cheese Before Bed Will Not Give You Nightmares
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Or Not
In today’s world many misconceptions have been perpetuated—becoming modern day “facts”—when, in reality, myths and hearsay have taken over. Sorry to burst your bubble, but in this weekly column, Ripley’s puts those delusions to the test, turning your world upside down, because you can’t always…Believe It!
Today: Cheese won’t give you nightmares.
Cheese Before Bed
Have you ever been chided in the twilight hours of consciousness for opening the cold fridge in a quest for late night dairy delicacies? If so, you have heard the unfortunate myth that eating cheese will give you nightmares.
Fear not, scientists have done the research to prove you can safely consume your curds without fear of a bad night’s sleep.
Of Ghosts and Gruyere
Cheese has been blamed for bad dreams at least as far back as the 1800s, with the likes of Ebenezer Scrooge suspecting “a crumb of cheese” might be the cause of the ghostly apparitions haunting him.
Ghost or… cheese?
The Cheese & Dreams Study
Seeking to clear the food’s good name, the British Cheese Board decided to conduct a scientific study testing cheese on 200 people.
Each participant ate about an ounce of various cheeses 30 minutes before going to bed. Each morning, they wrote down whether they could remember having any dreams.
The results were promising. According to Nigel White, the secretary of the British Cheese Board, 75% of subjects reported they slept well.
Eerily, a trend developed correlating the type of dream a person had with the cheese they ate. People who ate Blue Stilton—blue cheese—reported bizarre dreams, but didn’t qualify them as nightmares.
A different kind of cheese board.
One dream involved a vegetarian crocodile, depressed he couldn’t eat children. Another involved soldiers engaged in combat, but instead of guns, they were wielding kittens.
Brie had a different effect depending on sex. Women had nice dreams about food or relaxing on a beach, but men had obscure dreams, like drunken conversations with their dogs.
Menu of Cheese Dreams:
Blue cheese: Bizarre dreams.
Red Leicester: Nostalgic dreams.
Cheddar: Dreams about celebrities.
Cheshire: No dreams.
Brie: Relaxation for women, bizarre for men.
Lancashire: New jobs.
WARNING: May upset crocodiles.
Sweet Dreams are Made of Cheese
Nutritionists point to a number of reasons cheese might actually be good for sleep. Tryptophan, an essential amino acid in milk, is thought to help normalize sleep and reduce stress levels—and is the same chemical blamed for making the family sleepy after a Thanksgiving meal.
We do warn moderation, however. What likely started this cheese myth in the first place was overeating. A stuffed stomach is more likely to cause sleep loss than a small dose of dairy.
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