Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 418
April 7, 2017
Winston Churchill Was Prescribed Unlimited Alcohol
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
If you could get a Doctor’s note to excuse you from anything your heart desires, what would it be? For Winston Churchill, it was for an unlimited amount of alcohol.
Doctors are strange entities in this country. In some ways, they possess unlimited power and final authority on many matters. For most of us, that power is often used to help get out of a day of work or having to exercise during Phys Ed. But when you’re a prominent diplomat, maybe you can get more bang for your buck.
Sir. Winston Churchill
The year was 1931, and Churchill was on a lecture tour through the U.S. Prohibition had been in effect in the country for 11 years at the time, and Winston must have known he’d be in for a long trip without libations.
While in New York, Churchill was rushing to meet a friend for dinner. When he stepped out of the cab and went to cross the street, he momentarily forgot that he wasn’t in England anymore.
I no sooner got out of the cab somewhere about the middle of the road and told the driver to wait than I instinctively turned my eyes to the left. About 200 yards away were the yellow headlights of an approaching car.
He tried to rush out of the way, but forgot to check both ways for oncoming traffic and was hit by a car traveling roughly 35 mph.
Sir Winston Churchill was rushed to a hospital and treated for a gash to the head, a broken nose, broken ribs, and severe shock.
Eventually, he left the hospital and went to the Bahamas to rest and heal up. But he still wanted to complete the lecture tour.
His doctor in New York didn’t think it was a good idea given his injuries, but he found the best way possible to alleviate some of his suffering. He gave Churchill a note circumventing the prohibition laws and allowing him to have all of the alcohol he wanted.
The note, written by Dr. Otto Pickhardt reads:
This is to certify that the post-accident convalescence of the Hon. Winston S. Churchill necessitates the use of alcoholic spirits especially at meal times. The quantity is naturally indefinite but the minimum requirements would be 250 cubic centimeters.
And just like that, the honorable Sir. Winston Churchill was allowed to ignore a decade-long law and drink to his heart’s content while traveling through the states.
April 6, 2017
Badger Buried a Cow Twice Its Size for 5 Days Straight
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In the remote wastes of Utah’s Grassy Mountain, a badger buried a cow that was over twice its size, and researchers caught the whole thing on camera.
The roughly 20-pound beaver stumbled upon the already-dead carcass and spent the next five days burying the entire body.
Researchers had actually planted the cow in the desert with cameras set up in order to study how scavengers behaved when they found large potential food sources.
Badgers are known to bury food for later in underground food caches, but as for as scientists knew, they only did this with small rodents. They’d never thought that a small badger would save an animal twice its size for later.
Before they arrived back at the site, they thought that coyotes or a mountain lion had drug the cow away, they never expected to be standing right on top of it!
MINI BION
“BIONs” – short for Believe It or Not – is the word we use at Ripley’s to refer to anything that is unbelievable and worthy to become part of Ripley’s lore and collection.
Source: Badger Buried a Cow Twice Its Size for 5 Days Straight
April 5, 2017
Waffle House Has a Record Label
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Ripley’s likes to shed light on extraordinary things that are generally found ordinary or a common. And to those ends, what can be more commonplace than Waffle House?
Granted, Waffle House is a staple of the South, so it may not be too common for our Yankee readers, but you can’t drive very far in the South without seeing that telltale yellow sign. And yet there’s still some question about exactly how much we really know about this longstanding breakfast establishment.
For example, did you know Waffle House has been in operation since 1955? The restaurant has made a name for itself by ensuring it’s open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They even have a plan in place to stay open during natural disasters!
But most surprising of all might be the fact that Waffle House has its own record label!
Waffle Records
Waffle Records has been in effect since the mid-1980s. Contrary to what you may assume, it’s not just about advertising; it’s about ambiance.
It’s about our food. It’s about our people. It’s about the things that happen if you just sit in a Waffle House and listen to the conversations around you. -Shelby White, Head of Waffle Records
You can get a good glimpse of what Waffle Records is trying to achieve by listening to one of their most popular songs, “There are Raisins in My Toast.”
We’re not trying to get played on the radio. If anyone wants to play it, that’s great, but it’s all about inside the restaurant.
It’s good that the people behind Waffle Records have kept their expectations low since I don’t think they’ll be rocketing up the Billboard 100 charts anytime soon. But making art for art’s sake is often its own reward.
The songs were originally recorded with the intention of being pressed into vinyl and placed in Waffle House jukeboxes across the country. Now’s it’s all digital, of course, but Waffle House’s dedication to the old school diner atmosphere means you can still find the music available to be played at any location.
In the event you aren’t at a Waffle House anytime soon, here are a few examples of their songs. But I warn you, if you listen to them on an empty stomach, you might be filled with the desire to head to your nearest Waffle House and get breakfast.
Source: Waffle House Has a Record Label
The "Waffle House Index" Used For Emergencies
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In 2011, the Director of FEMA referred to the “Waffle House Index,” something they used to measure how hard a natural disaster hit an area.
“It’s a point of pride that we do so well to keep our restaurants open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, in almost any situation” -Waffle House CEO, Walt Ehmer
Waffle House’s claim to fame is that they will stay open 24/7 as long as it’s possible. There’s even a myth that Waffle House restaurants have no lock on their doors because they never lock up.
Where Hurricane Katrina once stomped, a lone Waffle House stands by cgkinla
FEMA states that when a Waffle House location is closed they know that area needs aid.
It’s true!
The Waffle Disaster Plan
Your local Waffle House is prepared to work without power and low food supplies. In extreme cases some locations have a “Mobile Command Center,” which is just a fancy term for food truck.
The restaurant chain is so ready for disasters that most chains have emergency menus already printed for cases where they either don’t have power or are low on supplies. And when the see an imminent disaster (usually a storm or hurricane) local restaurants will start to stock up on necessities like ice and eggs to feed people even if new food can’t reach them.
The Official Waffle Scale
To measure how bad an area is affected this scale is used.
Green: The full menu is being served. Everything is running normally.
Yellow: A reduced menu is being served. The restaurant may be lacking supplies or electricity.
Red: The Waffle House is Closed.
Still don’t believe us?
The Colbert Report
Colbert Report Episode Guide, More Colbert Report Videos, Comedy Central Full Episodes
Get The Weekly Weird
Never miss a strange story!
Newsletter Subscription (Sidebar)
Sign up for our Newsletter and get weird news and exclusive offers to Ripley's, delivered straight to your inbox!
Name
*
The Myth of Washington’s Teeth
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The running story on Washington’s teeth has been that they were hand-carved by the Colonial general himself.
While it’s a great story about even the most heroic of people having flaws like the rest of us, Washington’s dentures were instead many and varied.
How’s it made?
The dentures he wore were made from a variety of materials, including lead, zinc, copper, ivory, cow teeth, horse teeth, and human teeth.
In one letter, the details of General Washington’s search for human teeth came to light. He bought a total of 9 teeth from slaves for a mere 150 shillings, the equivalent of about $0.07 a tooth.
War Secret
Washington, who had lost his first tooth at 24 years old, was highly sensitive about his teeth.
He trusted correspondence with his dentist as state secrets. One letter, however, was intercepted by British operatives. Despite being about a shipment of tooth files to New York, the British thought this meant Washington himself would be headed north.
This left the city of Yorktown under-defended, allowing Washington’s forces tot ake the city and end the War for American Independence.
Source: The Myth of Washington’s Teeth
April 4, 2017
Ripley’s Strangest Collection – Unboxing Belly Button Lint
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In This Episode
Last episode we slipped into the ancient custom of Chinese foot binding, taking a closer look at elaborately decorated lily slippers and discovering the ancient custom’s harsh reality. Now, let’s lighten the mood and unbox one of the strangest collections we own!
Today: Collecting Belly Button Lint
Share & Subscribe
If you liked the show, please share it with your peeps. Remember to SUBSCRIBE to our channel to stay BION-informed!
In 1984, Graham Barker of Perth, Australia started digging lint out of his belly button each day before showering. He carefully stored it in a jar, and, unsure as to what exactly to do with it, it slowly began accumulating. Luckily, in 2008 Ripley’s held a contest to find the oddest collection Down Under, and, without a doubt, Graham won! He has made it to the top of the list for strangest collections we have ever acquired.
Since his navel awakening, Graham has begun collecting other offbeat items such as his beard clippings and the stickers off of fruit!
Fluff Generator
Unsurprisingly, there has been very little research on belly button lint in the scientific community (whom refer to it as “navel fluff”). However, thanks to the work of University of Sydney researcher Karl Kruszelnicki we have some answers. Dr. Karl conducted a survey online which led him to the conclusion that navel fluff forms more often in middle-aged, hairy men, especially ones who have recently put on weight.
For this groundbreaking research, Dr. Karl received an Ig Nobel Prize in 2002, an honor awarded to research that “first makes you laugh, and then makes you think.”
Artist Rachel Betty Case from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, turns navel fluff into tiny bears. She collects the lint from the belly buttons of male friends and sells her cute fluffy creations in small glass jars.
Color Concerns
Ripley’s also has a small collection of belly button lint from Choith Ramchandani, who attached 12 pieces of lint to a piece of stationary. The note explained that he noticed the lint while taking a bath and wanted to know why it was all the same color, ultimately asking Ripley’s for the answer.
Most navel fluff is blue due to the cotton fibers in our clothing, but it’s comprised of a little more than that—from dead skin to discarded fat molecules, bits of dust and assorted scales and proteins—all of which can affect the coloration.
A sampling of navel fluff from Choith Ramchandani submitted to Ripley’s in March 1983.
Linty Fresh
By “Lint Lady” Heidi Hooper
If the thought of collecting belly button lint seems a little unsettling, unhygienic or simply unbelievable, Ripley’s also has a vast collection of art made from dryer lint!
Heidi Hooper of Massachusetts, uses dryer lint to create images of animals. The lint is taken from the cotton fiber in towels, chenille from throw blankets and feathers from down comforters that have been through the dryer. Unfortunately, the lint cannot be dyed to a specific color, as it is basically dust, so it can be a difficult task creating a color palette. Heidi will sometimes buy towels in the colors she wants to make her work a little easier!
Source: Ripley’s Strangest Collection – Unboxing Belly Button Lint
Snail Wakes Up After 5 Years of Being Glued to a Museum Card
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
In 1846, authorities at the British Museum glued what they thought was a deceased snail to a piece of cardboard for display. After it seemingly became unglued 5 years later, they discovered it had been alive the whole time.
Collected by Charles Lamb, Esq., from the Egyptian desert in March of 1846. He sent his specimen of Helix desertorum to the museum shortly after.
Pronounced Dead
Believing the snail to have expired in transit, they glued him to a cardboard show card.
Little did they know that the snail had retreated deep into the spiral of its shell in a deep sleep.
For five years, nobody knew the secrets hidden in the whorls of calcium carbonate at the British Museum.
The Lazarus Snail
One day curators noticed something strange about their catatonic mollusk: the shell seemed to have moved from its glued position and a trail of discoloration followed it.
Archivists removed it from the card to give it a bath, with a suspicion the snail might have in fact been slumbering.
After just a few minutes of exposure to moisture, the snail’s head poked from its shell and surveyed its new home with four eye stalks.
Scientists reckon the last time the snail had been awake was in the Egyptian desert.
The snail was fed some cabbage before falling back asleep for another two years.
A woodcut of the revived snail.
Source: Snail Wakes Up After 5 Years of Being Glued to a Museum Card
Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog
- Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s profile
- 52 followers
