Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 433
January 12, 2017
Donkeys Wear Pajamas on this Small French Island
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
On a remote island off the west coast of France, the locals have a curious custom of dressing their donkeys every morning in pajamas.
The donkeys of the Ile de Ré don’t seem to mind, though. The pajamas actually help keep mosquitoes and other bugs from biting their legs.
Poitou Donkeys
Most of the donkeys on the island are of the shaggy Poitou variety. Their thick hair and large size make them easily distinguishable from more common donkeys.
The Poitou was originally meant for just breeding but eventually became common workers throughout Europe.
After the advent of industrialization after World War II, the donkey labor market experienced a total collapse. By 1977, only 44 Poitou were left in the world, but since then, the breed has made a comeback with over 450 known to exist worldwide today.
Donkeys in Pants
On the Ile-de-Ré, donkeys were used to work the island’s many salt marshes. Because the marshes were thick with mosquitoes and other bugs, locals sewed pants to keep insects off the animals’ legs.
Ile de Re circa 1930
The donkey pantaloons were made from old red and white curtains or mattress fabric, which earned them the name “Anes en Culotte,” or “donkeys in pants.”
Robert Ripley even mentioned them in this 1930 cartoon!
Though donkeys don’t work the salt fields anymore, Islanders continue to dress them in pajamas. The donkey pajamas are synonymous with the island and help draw tourists.
January 11, 2017
The First Synthesizer Was Invented by a Codebreaker in the 1940s
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Known as the father of artificial intelligence and the key to cracking the German military’s infamous Enigma Code, Alan Turing was an undoubted genius.
Being such a genius, though, he tended to invent things without even realizing it.
Alan Turing
In the 1940s, Turing discovered he could make his massive early computer generate programmed clicking noises at set intervals. At first, he used this capability to make the first ever computer notifications, not to jam out.
Embed from Getty Images
You might not think of a click when you listen to electronica today, but Turing found that if he timed the clicks just right, he could get the human ear to hear a single, steady C note.
Music
Turing, however, didn’t quite appreciate the computer’s musical potential. He was happy enough with his alarm signal.
A young programmer and musician named Christopher Strachey later programmed Turing’s Manchester Mark II computer to play “God Save the Queen.”
At the time, this was longest computer program ever written, and astonished colleagues along with Turing himself.
Embed from Getty Images
Teams of programmers went on to program more songs for the computer to perform.
Recordings
Turing actually made recordings of three songs played by his computer. They were “God Save the Queen,” Baa Baa Black Sheep,” and Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood.”
Because the recording had become so distorted over time, it took University of Canterbury’s Jack Copeland and Jason Long painstaking effort to clean up the recording.
Limitations of Imitations
Though many notes could be synthesized by the computer, others were simply impossible for the machine to produce.
This made songwriting a tricky job because the amount of notes available were physically limited. In fact, scientists were sure the restored recordings were not intentional because many of the sounds were impossible for Alan Turing’s computer to produce.
It wasn’t until transistor computers arrived that electronica and chiptunes became popular.
Source: The First Synthesizer Was Invented by a Codebreaker in the 1940s
January 10, 2017
These Sculptures Are Made From Newspaper!
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Ripley’s sees art made out of all kinds of unusual things. While paper may seem like a fairly mundane art medium, the unique braiding of the paper in these sculptures excited us enough to buy a few for ourselves.
Japanese paper artist Chie Hitotsuyama makes these brilliant sculptures completely out of newspapers.
She first forms them into dense cylinders by tightly rolling the newspapers together, then shapes them into stunningly realistic animals.
Her works range from her home’s native red-faced macaques to rhinoceroses and sea turtles.
We bought this one!
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.
January 9, 2017
January 8, 2017
January 7, 2017
January 6, 2017
Pudding Throwing Championships
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
The World Black Pudding Throwing Championship is held annually in Ramsbottom, England.
It began in the 1980s and stands as a symbol of the rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire. The goal is to throw black puddings up at stacks of Yorkshire’s version of the dish and knock as many down as possible.
The black variety is a kind of sausage made with pig’s blood, and Yorkshire pudding is made from a batter of eggs, flour, and milk.
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: Pudding Throwing Championships
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