Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 413
May 5, 2017
The Big Cheese: Jackson’s Was Bigger than Jefferson’s
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Cool Stuff, Strange Things
Hosted by Ripley’s lead researcher, Sabrina Sieck, let Ripley’s Believe It or Not! introduce YOU to the coolest stuff and strangest things.
Today: Presidential Cheese
The Big Cheese
Early America was a strange place. A free land in which no one blushed at the thought of sending a president a block of cheese.
Not a snack size Baby Bell, but hundreds of pounds of solid cheese!
Seriously, this happened more than once. On today’s episode, we pay fromage to the un-brie-livable stories of Presidential cheese.
The First Cheese
In 1801, a group of Massachusetts women gave Thomas Jefferson a 1,200-pound block of cheese as kind of a “thanks for being rad” gift.
Andrew Jackson also had the privilege of receiving not just one, but at least two, maybe three, blocks of cheese. The largest weighed in at 1,400 pounds, gifted to him by Colonel Meacham of Sandy Creek, New York in 1835.
The fruit of Meacham’s labor was four feet in diameter, two feet thick and was delivered to Jackson via a legit parade through New York and then by schooner ship on high cheese.
Jackson gave giant chunks of the cheese to his buddies, and ate his fair share, but he was still left with an absurd amount. It was overwhelming. He was helpless!
By 1837 Jackson’s second term was winding down, and he wasn’t about to haul a two-year-old mountain of cheese with him out of the White House, so he decided to make the famed fromage a featured player at his last public reception in the presidential palace.
Free Food
Smart move, Andy. The reception’s 10,000 guest devoured the wheel—it was gone within two hours. What wasn’t gone, though, was the stench, and Jackson’s successor, Van Buren, had to deal with the lingering odor first hand. Even, Washingtonians could allegedly smell the cheese, which one dubbed “an evil-smelling horror,” for blocks!
You could say…It smelt like someone…cut the cheese.
#BigBlockOfCheeseDay
Former POTUS Barack Obama’s administration revived the tradition and brought #BigBlockOfCheeseDay into the modern era. Leaving the cheddar crisis to Jackson, the administration celebrated virtually, sans cheese, inviting members of the public to share questions with the administration on social media.
Ripley’s tried to reach the Trump administration for comment on the future of Big Cheese Day, to no avail.
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Source: The Big Cheese: Jackson’s Was Bigger than Jefferson’s
May 4, 2017
May 3, 2017
This Camera-Eye Will Leave You with a Different Perspective
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Rob Spence, a Toronto filmmaker, has replaced his eyeball for a camera-eye. Talk about loving your craft. Spence lost sight in his right eye at the tender age of nine. The shooting accident happened on his grandfather’s farm when he incorrectly fired at a pile of cow manure. Yes, this is a fact.
Eyeborg
Dubbing himself the Eyeborg, this isn’t the first time Spence has been making headlines. Back in 2009, he did replace his eye with a digital camera, but it was just a massive amount of electronics that sat in his socket. His creation was even named one of the “Best Inventions of the Year” by Time magazine. Spence and his team used cell phone camera technology when creating their first prosthetic camera-eye.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Real Human Augmentation (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) via GameSpot
Today
With technology ever-evolving, Spence has recreated his camera-eye to mimic a regular prosthetic. While this incredibly real looking eye isn’t connected to his optic nerve – no guys this isn’t The Terminator – what the camera-eye “sees” can be viewed on a monitor. The camera-eye uses radio-frequency transmissions. It contains a wireless video camera that runs on a small three-volt battery. Unfortunately, he can only leave it in for three minutes due to overheating. Also, you can turn the camera-eye on and off with a push of a button.
How’s that for perspective?
Spence’s goal is to film people’s bionic body parts with his camera-eye. While he has for a documentary about cybernetics, Spence would like to shoot for hours at a time. He is determined to make his full-length documentary, filmed from his camera-eye, a reality.
We’re sure he’ll be back, baby.
Eyeborg is also now the subject of Showtime’s series, Dark Net. Trust us, it’s totally worth the watch.
Privacy
Without a doubt, Eyeborg’s eye has raised many eyebrows when it comes to safety and privacy. Do you want a constant feed of your day to day life?
Source: This Camera-Eye Will Leave You with a Different Perspective
The Unclaimed Baggage Center
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Located in Scotsboro, Alabama, the Unclaimed Baggage Center is the penultimate destination of a lot of lost luggage. They donate or trash most of what they get, but put the very best items up for sale. Here’s a full list of some of the strangest things they’ve found:
Animal trade:
Moose Antlers
Giant tortoise shell
Snake Skin
LIVE Rattlesnake
Bear skin packed in salt (apparently it smelled awful)
Zebra pelt
50 vacuum-packed frogs
Odd clothing
A Versace gown straight off the runway
Vegas showgirl costume
Aluminized fire suit
Full suit of 19th0century replica armor
Valuables
5.8-carat diamond set in a platinum band (hidden in a sock)
41-carat emerald
Platinum Rolex valued at $60,000
A painting tagged at $60 that was really worth $25,000
Government Property
A camera from the space shuttle (kindly returned to NASA
Missile Guidance System for a fighter jet (kindly returned to the USAF)
Memento Mori’s
Someone’s ashes
An engraved headstone
A coffin
4,000-year-old Egyptian Burial Mask
& a shrunken head (not ours)
Source: The Unclaimed Baggage Center
May 2, 2017
May 1, 2017
A New Giant Slimy Species Is Found, and It’s Frightening
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In the depths of the Philippines, tucked away in a tusk-like shell, a large and slimy animal has been unveiled. This animal? The giant shipworm.
What is it?
Giant shipworm shells have been documented since the 18th century; however, researchers never had access to the worms living inside. Known scientifically as the Kuphus polythalamia, these giant shipworms belong to the bivalve mollusks family, otherwise known as mussels, oysters, and scallops.
Their tube-like shell is made up of calcium carbonate.
The Giant Shipworm can easily reach three to five feet!
Diet
You can find these grotesque beauties planted in a shallow lagoon, immersed in the mud. Sounds like a day in paradise if you ask us.
Since the giant shipworms live in this habitat, it will use bacteria from the mud to feed. Oh, and you know what the most delicious part of their meal is? The sweet scent of rotting eggs! The reason for the smell is that the mud they live in emits hydrogen sulfide. The sulfide is vital to their existence. You see, the giant shipworm’s gills use it as energy to produce organic carbon that they feed off. The process is similar to how green plants use sunlight in the process of photosynthesis.
The giant shipworm’s digestive system is significantly smaller when compared to its family members. One study does show that this fascinating creature once lived off sunken wood, but eventually moved on to hydrogen sulfide that is found in decaying wood.
Infographic of the Giant Shipworm CC University of Utah
Evolution
The reason why researchers are elated over this discovery is that it allows them to understand the evolution of marine animals through the years. While there are many more studies to be conducted, what’s important is how these creatures can live with bacteria in their cells and not die. It could help us understand infections a slight bit more and also change the way we use our medicine.
Source: A New Giant Slimy Species Is Found, and It’s Frightening
We Welcome You to the Winchester Mystery House
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
For 38 years, Sarah Winchester dedicated her life to building the Winchester Mystery House, a humble abode for the many spirits that haunted her.
The Winchester Mystery House is a home where stairs end abruptly at the ceilings, doors open onto brick walls, and glittered stained glass windows are adorned with spiderweb designs.
History
It all started in the town of New Haven, Connecticut, where Sarah Lockwood Pardee was born. Coming from an affluent middle class family, Sarah was a child prodigy. By the age of 12, she was fluent in French, Italian, Latin, and Spanish. Not only that, but she was recognized in society for her knowledge of literature and refined musical skills, ultimately being dubbed “The Belle of New Haven.”
This undoubtedly unique girl was then married to William Winchester. The Winchester family amassed a vast fortune due to the Winchester Repeating Arms Company where they developed the 1860 Henry Rifle, better known as “The Gun that Won the West.”
During their marriage, Sarah gave birth to a daughter, Annie, who unfortunately passed away from marasmus in July of 1866. Her daughter’s death drove Sarah to the edge of madness. It would take a decade for Sarah to overcome her loss. During this dark time, William was struck with pulmonary tuberculosis, a disease that ended his life. As a result of his death, Sarah inherited 20 million dollars, and some Winchester Arms stock, making her one of the richest women in the world. She took her wealth and began building the Winchester Mystery House began.
Sarah Winchester via Wikipedia Commons
The Winchester Mystery House Folklore:
Unsure of how to deal with her loss, Sarah sought out a medium who told her she was cursed and must sell her home to settle towards the sun. There, she would need to build a home for spirits who died from the Winchester rifle. If she didn’t continuously build the home, she would die. To her luck, Sarah found a six room home under construction in San Jose, California, that she purchased from a Dr. Caldwell.
The ever-constant construction of the Winchester Mystery House landed Sarah twenty carpenters who rotated shifts. They labored 24-hours per day, seven days a week. The house grew seven stories high; however, due to the 1906 earthquake, the house was reduced to four stories. Oh, did we forget to mention Sarah held séances every night at midnight so the spirits could tell her what to build next?
Other than the outlandish size of the house, what makes it so unique is the maze-like corridors, and the doors that lead to nowhere. Some doors would lead you to a dead end that might leave you hanging off the rails. No joke. There are rooms within rooms, and little doors that open up to wide spaces. She also created shortcuts that lead you in circles and quickly transport you to the other side of the house.
Feeling disoriented? We sure are!
The door that leads to nowhere. CC Spiel via Wikimedia Commons
That’s a dead end. CC InSapphoWeTrust via Wikimedia Commons
Spider Web Window CC Jean via flickr
Adding to the allure of this house are the prime numbers you can repeatedly find throughout the mansion. The most prominent number being 13. In fact, she had a chandelier reworked to hold 13 candles instead of 12. There are 13 sink drains, various sets of 13 wall hooks installed within the home, and 13 bathrooms. Rumor has it that seven and 11 were lucky numbers, and were used to create positive vibrations to cancel out the evilness of the number 13.
Sarah had multiple master bedrooms built. She slept in a different one every night so the spirits couldn’t find her.
Others claim the home is an intricate puzzle where Sarah created encryption codes, inspired by Francis Bacon. The iron gates, which lead to the winding staircase, otherwise, known as the switchback staircase, have Masonic symbols which shows “the guiding path of self-initiation.”
Sir Francis Bacon via Wikimedia Commons
Sarah passed away of heart failure at the age of 83 on September 5, 1922. She left a will written in 13 sections and was signed – you guessed it – 13 times. The Winchester Mystery House was auctioned immediately and soon became an attraction five months after her death.
Sarah wore a black veil every day and dismissed servants or workers who saw her face. Via Wikimedia Commons
Facts:
TheWinchester Mystery House has been declared a California Historical Landmark
The house has 161 rooms spanning 24,000 square feet over six acres
2,000 doors
10,000 windows
47 fireplaces
40 stairways
13 bathrooms
Six kitchens
Three elevators
Two basements
Winchester Mystery House Today:
A new room has been discovered in the enchanting house! The attic was recently discovered. It has been boarded up since Sarah’s death.
There have been many psychics, employees, and visitors who are convinced this house is haunted by lingering spirits due to their strange encounters.
Enter at your own risk for you’ll be going down the rabbit hole when visiting this peculiar home!
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