Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 385
October 6, 2017
Evel Knievel’s Death-Defying Descent
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Believe it or not, Knievel fractured 433 bones by the end of 1975.
In Chicago, he attempted to jump over a 90-foot-long tank filled with 13 sharks. At his Washington motorcycle dealership, he soared over a twenty-foot-long box of rattlesnakes. In 1973, he managed to fly over 50 cars without a scratch.
He was Evel Knievel.
Clad in red, white and blue, Knievel was America’s daredevil. Known for his death-defying stunts, he is remembered just as much for his successes as he is his failures.
Snake River Canyon
When the United States government denied his request to jump over the Grand Canyon, Knievel scouted out an alternative location for one of his greatest attempts: Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Your typical motorcycle was not going to cut it. Snake River Canyon is, and was, about a quarter-mile wide and up to 500-feet deep in spots. In need of more power, Knievel hired a team of engineers to build him a steam-powered “rocket cycle.” Built and ready to go, Knievel hit the ramp on September 8, 1974.
While his rocket-powered vehicle made it across the canyon, the parachute attached to it deployed prematurely and winds dragged his craft back into the canyon. Knievel plugged, landing only a few feet away from Snake River. Strapped in tight, if he had landed in the water he would have likely drowned.
Like a champ, Knievel got up and walked away with only minor cuts and scrapes.
The Legend Lives
Forty-two years later, on September 16, 2016, stuntman Eddie Braun did what Evel did not—successfully jumping Snake River Canyon, believe it or not, in a craft built by the son of the man who built Kneival’s original rocket motorcycle.
He named it “Evel Spirit”.
A World First and Chance to Win with Nitro Circus’ Travis Pastrana
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Have you seen this yet?! Action Sport icon and Nitro Circus ringleader Travis Pastrana attempted a barge to barge, 75-foot wide gap, backflip on London’s River Thames—Believe It or Not!—making the jump!
This jaw-dropping stunt was attempted once before in 2006 by Mike Metzger in San Francisco, California, but unfortunately ended in a crash. It is no easy feat, and for that reason, Ripley’s will be including this world first in next year’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not! annual—but you don’t have to wait an entire year to see Travis in the pages of Ripley’s!
Enter to Win
Want Travis’ autograph? Enter to win a copy of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Shatter Your Senses!—this year’s annual on sale now—signed by daredevil Travis Pastrana himself!
Giveaway is available to US and UK residents only.
Nitro Circus Contest
First Name
Last Name
Email Address
Country
United States of America
United Kingdom
Yes! Sign me up for Ripley’s email with exclusive offers, news, and information for Ripley’s. You can unsubscribe at any time!
Yes, I agree to the Terms & Conditions.
Click here for contest Terms & Conditions.
Pastrana battled high winds and rough waters as he flew between the two vessels floating on the legendary River Thames in London, UK, the iconic O2 rising in the background.
A Champ, Not a Chump
Ripley’s is ecstatic to be a part of history in the making and to help kick-off Nitro Circus’ 2018 European Tour, but athletic feats are also how we got our start…
On a slow news day in December 1918, an enterprising cartoonist pulled together a few notable feats of athletic endurance, sketching each. One man had stayed underwater for six minutes, another skipped rope 11,810 times, while another ran 623 miles in 142 hours. He submitted the cartoon to his editors with the title “Champs and Chumps” but also offered “Believe It or Not” as an alternative.
Prior to becoming famous for his travels and oddities from around the world, Robert Ripley presented unbelievable athletic feats—much like that of Nitro Circus’ Travis Pastrana’s world first today!
Stay tuned for his feature in next year’s Ripley’s annual!
Did you know Travis basically wrote the book on this stuff? In 1999, he won the first-ever MotoX Freestyle event at the X Games. That year he also scored the highest-ever Freestyle run—99.00 points! Believe It!
Nitro Circus’ 2018 European Tour Dates:
NOV 20
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – 2018
ARENA BIRMINGHAM
NOV 21
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – 2018
THE SSE HYDRO
NOV 22
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – 2018
MEN ARENA
NOV 23
LONDON, ENGLAND – 2018
THE O2
NOV 27
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – 2018
TELE2 ARENA
NOV 30
PARIS, FRANCE – 2018
ACCORHOTELS ARENA
DEC 04
MUNICH, GERMANY – 2018
OLYMPIAHALLE MÜNCHEN
DEC 07
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – 2018
HALLENSTADION ZÜRICH
DEC 08
MANNHEIM, GERMANY – 2018
SAP ARENA
DEC 09
ANTWERP, BELGIUM – 2018
ANTWERPS SPORTPALEIS
Source: A World First and Chance to Win with Nitro Circus’ Travis Pastrana
October 5, 2017
Or Not: Horns on Viking Helmets
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: The Horned Helmets of Vikings
Horned Viking Helmets
Vikings are a mainstay in the mythology of medieval warriors. They are depicted with round shields, ships tipped with snarling dragons, giant axes, and horned helmets.
The Vikings were a fearsome group, but horned helmets? They might look scary, but they would have been highly impractical, getting caught on trees, taking up valuable space on ships, and easily grabbed or knocked off. In order to understand whether or not Vikings wore horned helmets, you really have to understand what exactly a Viking is.
What is a Viking?
Vikings were sea-faring traders and raiders hailing from northern Europe who spoke Old Norse. The Viking Age began in the 8th century and ended about 300 years later. During this time, the Vikings expanded from Scandinavia and Denmark, making footholds in the British Isles, France, North Germany, and Iceland. Some Viking crews even explored as far out as North America and Baghdad.
The Vikings did a mix of pillaging and trading, virtually unopposed as a maritime superpower after the collapse of the Roman Empire and ongoing Muslim invasion in Southern Europe. Archaeologists have seen little evidence of horned-helmet wearing Vikings on anything from the actual Viking Age. Only one intact Viking helmet has been recovered from the era, and it had no horns. Unfortunately, Viking helmets are hard to find, as Vikings were not buried with them, and most seem to have been made using leather.
10th-Century Gjermundbu helmet
There are a lot of depictions of Vikings in drawings and tapestries from the time, but only one shows any horns on a Viking, the Oseberg Tapestry. On this tapestry, there is a figure that might be a Viking and might be wearing a horned helmet. The Tapestry was made in 834 ad, right in the middle of the Viking Age, but is it proof Vikings wore horned helmets?
Why Do We Think Vikings Wore Horns?
So if, Vikings with horns only possibly appear on one tapestry from the Viking Age, when did people start gluing horns to helmets? A number of horned helmets have actually been found in Northern Europe, just not during the time the Vikings were roving the high seas.
The Vesko helmets, for example, were found in northern Europe, but are dated around 600 BC, nearly 1400 years before the first Viking invasion in Europe. A few depictions of horned helmets being used in religious ceremonies also appear at this time, but none were made after 100 BC. Before reliable techniques were developed for dating artifacts, some of these helmets were attributed to the Viking Age. Eighteenth-Century scholars are also suspected to have confused drinking horns found in Viking crypts with horns from helmets.
Vesko Helmets/CC Lennart Larsen
After the spread of Christianity took down the Roman Empire, stopped the Moor Invasion, and began spreading across Central Europe, the Northern Germanic and Viking territories were next. The coagulating Holy Roman Empire set its sights on Northern Germany and the Danish peninsula, a territory controlled by Viking King Canute.
These northern German tribes and their Pagan practices had been a thorn in the side of growing Christian Empires long before the Viking Age. Barbarians of all kinds had been rumored to wear animals on their heads, everything from wings to horns and even whole live animals in some stories. Though these accounts could be true, it was unlikely these were battle helmets and may have even been propaganda used to characterize them as savages.
The Viking Age of Norse conquest came to a close as natives in settlements abroad took back the reigns of power and an emerging German-style production economy took root even in the Danish homeland. Christianity was becoming popular across the north, supplanting their traditions, and siphoning power from the loosely organized Norse Empire, leading to the demise of the Vikings.
Viking Revival
It wasn’t until the Romantic Period that artists took a renewed interest in the Norse society. In their portrayals of Pagan cultures, adventurous explorers, and medieval combat, they mixed and mashed Celt, Roman, Frank, German, and Viking traits together. These “Vikings” were akin to Roman heroes, wielding gleaming swords and donning winged or horned helmets.
Richard Wagner, the famous opera composer, famously helped popularize putting horns on his characters, and though many would say he is responsible for starting the horned helmet myth, he actually never wrote any Viking operas. Likewise, the illustrated novel, Song of Frithiof, gained widespread popularity and depicted its hero with a horned helmet.
Frithiof
Or Not
The truth is, a lot of people simplified the difference between the Goths, Visigoths, Alpine Franks, Sis-Alpine Franks, Saxons, Frisians, and Danes which all existed before the Viking Age, and called them Vikings. That oversimplification was mixed with artistic liberty, bad archaeology, and propaganda to produce the horn-headed “Viking” we all know and love.
Source: Or Not: Horns on Viking Helmets
Meet Ripley the Monkey–Yes, Named after Robert Ripley!
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
We bet you’ve never seen a more adorable monkey than the one named Ripley! Believe it or not, Tanah, a 22-year-old François langur, became the oldest of her species ever to give birth. Unbelievable! No wonder the zoo decided to name the baby langur Ripley. Located at the one and only, Memphis Zoo, you can find Tanah and Ripley hanging around greeting guests with all their cuteness.
Celebrating Ripley
To celebrate the birth of baby Ripley, we will be teaming up with The Memphis Zoo to bring you nine days of incredible fun and exclusive exhibits to the zoo! Starting Oct. 7, you will be able to enjoy Ripley activities including a scavenger hunt, a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! designed coloring page for kids, some awesome François langur Keeper Chats, plus an interactive Ripley’s Believe It or Not! show where you can experience our out-of-this-world Ripley’s exhibits in person!
“Although the keepers named Ripley after Robert Ripley and Ripley’s Believe It or Not!,” said Nancy Kelso, Vice President of Guest Services, “we could not have imagined that the news would bring this exciting event to the Zoo. The nearest Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is in Gatlinburg, Tenn., so not only does it give additional attention to the Memphis Zoo and our François langurs, it offers the opportunity to enjoy these incredible exhibits right here at home.”
Tanah and Ripley Courtesy of Greg James
Did you know?
The Memphis Zoo has 3,500 animals representing over 500 different species.
The Memphis Zoo was founded in 1906.
It has completed over $93 million in renovations and expansion since the early 1990s.
Over 50% of François’ langur’s diet is made up of leaves.
The population of François’ langur has been on a steady decline for the past 30 years.
Remember, gates close on Sunday, October 15! Don’t miss your opportunity to meet the incredible Monkey, Ripley!
Source: Meet Ripley the Monkey–Yes, Named after Robert Ripley!
October 4, 2017
The Boston Typewriter Orchestra
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
This musical ensemble eschews traditional instruments in favor of vintage typewriters. By rhythmically clacking, rolling, spinning, and banging the Boston Typewriter Orchestra has turned the typed word into song.
The band started in 2004 after taking a joke too seriously. Tim Devin proclaimed himself the conductor of the Boston Typewriter Orchestra, and he and a group of friends made the joke into reality. The group began rehearsing on old typewriters, slowly developing an all-new form of music.
After premiering their performance at the Art Beat Festival in Boston, the group began performing all over the New England area.
The band uses old typewriters because they produce unique sounds. They say portable models can offer a good tenor sound—their quick key-strokes producing consistent high notes—but that all parts of the devices qualify as instruments. Spinning rollers, sliding carriages, bells, and even thumping them on the table contribute to the orchestra’s unique sound, with different models all yielding different results.
“A Smith-Corona Galaxy 12 has a power space function that makes a nice metallic clang sound.”—typewriter player Brendan Emmett Quigley
The process isn’t an exact science, the band hammers away at the keys semi-haphazardly before slowly falling into synchronized music. The band originally typed with paper on their typewriters, but they only ever ended up with nonsense. They gave up on paper, stating it didn’t make any difference to the sound anyway.
This year they performed at the IG Nobel Awards and released their first record, which you can get on vinyl!
Termination Without Prejudice, Volume 1 by The Boston Typewriter Orchestra
Source: The Boston Typewriter Orchestra
October 3, 2017
Ripley’s Brought Home Some Monumental Goodies
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Believe it or not, we’ve acquired three incredible pieces of Hollywood memorabilia from the Prop Store auction house in London! Can you guess which monumental goodies we collected?
Don’t call me junior!
Yup, we have Indiana Jones’ bullwhip from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade! The whip becomes the first major artifact in the Ripley collection from the famous Indiana Jones movie franchise. This particular whip was used in multiple scenes of The Last Crusade, including when Indy rescued his father—played by Sean Connery—from the Nazis at Castle Brunwald.
While Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is my personal favorite from the series, and my preferred Harrison Ford character EVER—sorry Han Solo—I’ll try not to recite “Hey, Dr.Jones, no time for love,” while playing with the famous whip.
Roads?!? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.
You might not need roads, but you most definitely will need sneakers when traveling back to the future!
Courtesy of Prop Store
Designed by Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, these self-lacing sneakers were worn by Michael J. Fox when he time traveled to Hill Valley in the year 2015 in Back to the Future Part II.
I’ll try NOT to wear these when I am riding my hoverboard around Ripley’s headquarters. It’s so tempting, ever so tempting.
Sir, If I may venture an opinion…
I mean, sure you can try, C-3PO, but considering we have your head and all, I think it’s best you don’t share any opinions.
Courtesy of Prop Store
We’re excited to be adding to our rapidly growing Star Wars collection, which includes the actual lightsaber used by Mark Hamill. We have now acquired a C-3PO head used in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back!
If you didn’t know, C-3PO’s head had a major upgrade thanks to Anthony Daniels’ request to have a more comfortable costume to wear. This helmet was made from plastic and was intended to be more comfortable than the original fiberglass design in Star Wars: A New Hope.
If you ask me, this will fit my head PERFECTLY. With Halloween just around the corner, let’s hope they allow me to rock this beauty on the 31st. Hey, I was named after Star Wars. It’s only fitting!
“The addition of these three iconic movie set pieces greatly enhances our growing pop-culture movie collection. Ripley’s is known around the world for displaying unique one-of-a-kind artifacts. Together these three pieces give us iconic artifacts that movie buffs and their families will want to see for years to come,” said Edward Meyer, Ripley’s VP of Exhibits & Archives.
The Abita Mystery House
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
From voodoo and vampires to swamps and Spears (Britney, that is) Louisiana has its fair share of oddities. Tucked away in Abita Springs, this Mystery House takes the king cake!
The Abita Mystery House is a rambling labyrinth of buildings that each house a different collection. Entering through a vintage gas station and into an old Creole cottage, curious visitors are overwhelmed with the odd. 
Artist and Mystery House curator, John Preble, has spent years collecting found objects and creating unusual inventions for this roadside attraction!
Preble’s collection includes interactive dioramas of Southern life. Preble used a variety of recyclable materials, lights, and motors to make this Mardi Gras scene move! The flying saucer spins, the French Quarter balcony rocks and the float riders dance!
Preble used his taxidermy skills to create Darrell the “Dogigator.” Half-alligator, half-dog, Darrell guards a collection of antique barbed wire! 
SENSING YOU WANT MORE?
Filled with remarkable photos and over 1,500 all new—all true—stories to immerse yourself in, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Shatter Your Senses! is the newest book in the bestselling series from Ripley Publishing—so incredible you won’t believe your eyes…or ears…or nose!
Spark your senses here, on the blog, weekly for a feature from the 2018 annual, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Shatter Your Senses! and follow us on social media for a chance to win a copy, among other unbelievable prizes!
Source: The Abita Mystery House
Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog
- Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s profile
- 52 followers
