Ripley Entertainment Inc.'s Blog, page 67
September 12, 2022
Mind-Blowing Facts About Queen Elizabeth II
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Queen Elizabeth II spent 70 years of her 96-year-long life reigning over the British Isles and the Commonwealth. During her extraordinary lifetime, Elizabeth II broke the record for the most currencies printed featuring one ruler. And despite the fact she carried very little (if any) cash in her signature Launer patent leather top handle bag, she ranked as the wealthiest Queen on the planet. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mind-boggling facts about one of the most fascinating figures of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The WWII Truck MechanicDuring World War II, Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth Windsor) became the first female royal family member to serve in the military. As inductee No. 230873, she volunteered as a truck mechanic with the Auxiliary Territorial Service. This role required passing a six-week training course and earning the rank of Junior Commander. Along the way, she learned how to read maps, repair engines, and pass a military driving test.
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The Sisters Partying in DisguiseOn May 8, 1945, the streets of Great Britain flooded with people ready to celebrate the end of World War II in Europe. Among the revelers were future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Margaret, who gained permission from their parents to get festive with commoners. But there was one condition: They had to go incognito and remain unrecognized. In 1958, Elizabeth described the scene, “I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief… I think it was one of the most memorable nights of my life.” This incredible story inspired 2015’s A Royal Night Out.
Ration Coupons for a Royal Wedding DressIn 2017, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Having married in 1947, two years after the end of World War II, they considerably toned down the pomp and circumstance associated with royal nuptials. Times remained austere, and Elizabeth used ration cards to purchase her wedding dress, receiving 200 extra from the government. Countless brides-to-be also mailed her their cards, but she sent these back to the original donors since it was illegal to transfer card ownership to another person.
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Traveler Without Driver’s License or PassportThe most well-traveled monarch to reign in Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth II visited more than 100 nations, some multiple times. For example, she traveled to France 13 times and spoke French fluently, thanks to her childhood governesses. She also visited Canada a whopping 22 times. Despite so many whirlwind adventures, she didn’t hold a passport or a driver’s license because, as sovereign of Britain, she was the only person in the nation who didn’t require these documents.
More Than 200 Official PortraitsMost of us have never posed for a painted portrait and never will. The closest we get is picture day in school. But the life of a monarch includes LOTS of image snapping. All told, Queen Elizabeth II sat for more than 200 official portraits — both photos and paintings — leaving many lasting impressions for her family and nation. The first portrait she ever sat for was in 1933 at seven. For context, that was six years before The Wizard of Oz came out in theaters!
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And Over 1,200,000 Cards WrittenServing as the sovereign leader of a nation comes with many weighty duties. But did you know card writing was among them? During her reign, Elizabeth II sent more than 300,000 birthday cards to Brits celebrating their 100th birthday. And she penned more than 900,000 messages to couples commemorating their 60th wedding anniversaries. While it’s a shame she didn’t make it to 100 herself, she and Philip did celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary and many more.
A Mountain of CorgisThe Queen loved her precious corgis, owning more than 30 of these short-legged shepherding canines throughout her lifetime. The love of these big-eared, foxy-looking little critters began when she was seven and encountered a friend with one. After begging her father for a similar pup, Elizabeth named the little guy Dookie. Then, in 1944, she received another corgi named Susan for her 18th birthday, sealing her lifelong devotion to the breed. Among her other iconic pets were Monty, Candy, and Lissy, and they received royal treatment, including chef-prepared meals and visits to pooch psychologists!
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The Royal Bagpipe Wake-Up CallThanks to Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II’s great-great-grandmother, royal wake-up calls have long included a surprising element: 15 minutes of playtime by royal bagpipers. The pipers performed outside the Queen’s window at 9 a.m. sharp every morning for decades, whether she resided at Windsor, Buckingham Palace, Holyroodhouse, or Balmoral. Apparently, a quarter-hour of boisterous drones does the trick, no snooze button permitted.
A Veritable Animal MenagerieAlthough corgi dogs remain synonymous with Queen Elizabeth II, most people don’t realize she also owned TONS of wild animals. As Her Royal Highness, Elizabeth laid claim to all whales, dolphins, and mute swans in the United Kingdom’s territories. Although it’d be easy to assume her love of animals motivated the tradition, it stems back to a decree from 1324, which declared whales and dolphins “fishes royal.” As for mute swans, they’ve been prized as delicacies for feasts and banquets since the 12th century, entitling them to protection from the Crown. But these are just the beginning when it comes to the royal menagerie, which also includes a colony of bats!
Two Birthday Parties a YearQueen Elizabeth II’s birthday was in April, but her official party happened annually on June 11. Why the yearly delay? Because of previous sovereigns whose birthdays occurred during the cold-weather months. No matter how devoted subjects have been to their monarchs over the centuries, the United Kingdom is notorious for harsh winters. So, 260 years ago, the British designated June 11 as the official monarch’s birthday. The event is marked each year by Trooping the Color, which includes 1,400 parading soldiers, 400 musicians, and 200 horses.
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Portrayals in 100 TV Shows and MoviesAs the longest-reigning Queen in British history, people have remained intrigued by Elizabeth II since her birth on April 21, 1926. So, it’s little wonder that various actresses have played the iconic leader in at least 100 dramatic depictions on the silver screen and in television dramas. Among the most famous are those by Helen Mirren in The Queen (resulting in an Oscar win for Mirren) and Claire Foy for Netflix’s The Crown.
The Need for Countless HatsHer Royal Highness drew a crowd wherever she went. People lined up for hours to catch a glimpse of Her Royal Highness on parade. So, she quickly developed the habit of wearing eye-catching hats wherever she went. Sophie, Countess of Wessex, explained, “She [needed] to stand out for people to say… they saw a bit of The Queen’s hat as she went past.” But this created another problem. Members of the Queen’s staff started betting on which colors she’d wear next based on the hats lying around. So, the royal dresser, Angela Kelly, started leaving random “decoy” hats at royal residences to ensure no one but she and the Queen knew which ensemble would debut next.
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A Lasting LegacyAt her 21st birthday, four years before she would be come queen, Elizabeth stated, “I declare before you that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service, and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.” Of course, she could have never known just how long that service would be. After all, nine out of 10 people living on the planet today were born after she became queen!
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
September 11, 2022
September 10, 2022
September 9, 2022
17th-Century ‘Vampire’ Found Buried With Sickle Over Her Neck
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Spooky season has officially begun after Polish archaeologists discovered the remains of a woman once believed to have been a vampire, complete with a sickle across her neck to stop her from coming back to life!
Nicholas Copernicus University professor Dariusz Poliński headed the 17th-century graveyard’s excavation that led to uncovering the unnamed woman’s remains.
Vampires were all the rage back in the day, and even being a little different was enough to turn a whole village against you. Although a silk cap found with the remains indicated that this young lady was of high status, even money couldn’t buy her way into society’s graces as she had a protruding front tooth that likely played a role in her demise.
| Remains of a ‘vampire’ discovered with sickle pinned around throat
More below: pic.twitter.com/HQ1ceZ6erA
— UNILAD (@UNILAD) September 3, 2022
Long before Buffy started slaying vampires, everyday villagers stayed strapped with vampire killing kits that included wooden stakes, crosses, holy water, guns with silver bullets, and even an elixir made of sulfuric acid! (Believe It or Not!, Ripley’s has one of the largest collections of vampire killing kits in the world. See one for yourself at one of our Odditoriums!)
Once someone was a goner, those who buried the presumed bloodsuckers didn’t take any chances of them coming back for round two. While anti-vampire protection practices commonly involved spiking the head to the ground or removing it altogether, Poliński noted that the woman’s burial was fairly rare.
It seems her status may have at least softened her death sentence, as she was buried with her head intact. Instead, her body was pinned to the ground with a sharp sickle blade that would chop her head off if she tried any funny business from the great beyond. And in case that wasn’t enough to keep her down, there was also a padlock around her big toe.
When the discovery hit the internet, people on social media were quick to suggest that the vampire lady be left as-is, lest moving the sickle results in a new cataclysmic world-altering event.
I need archeologists to just stop for a minute.
Take a gap year. Learn a language. Start a podcast.
We do not need to investigate the Polish vampire lady.
Someone put a sickle over her throat. That seems serious to me.
Sprinkle some dirt back on her and walk away slowly.
— emily freeman
(@editingemily) September 6, 2022
However, it appears Poliński and his team ain’t afraid of no vampires! They dared to remove the sickle to relocate the woman’s body to their labs, where they will continue their research. Here’s hoping they’ve got a kit on hand in case she decides to spring back to life!
By Meghan Yani, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: 17th-Century ‘Vampire’ Found Buried With Sickle Over Her Neck
September 8, 2022
Speaking In Reverse With The Backwards Dude
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Meet John Austin, a seemingly typical guy with a passion for filmmaking and video production living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Something you couldn’t tell just from looking at him, though, is that he has developed a uniquely extraordinary skill that very few individuals in the world can do — John can speak backwards!
Put It in ReverseIt all started when John was just five years old. He developed an early interest in music and would often play with the family record player, listening to some of his favorite songs. One day, curiosity struck, and John wanted to hear his favorite song in reverse. Taking his hand and forcing the record in the opposite direction, he realized a song he knew so well forward sounded indecipherable backwards. To John, it was just as melodically captivating and beautiful in reverse as it was forward.
John began learning his favorite songs backwards by mimicking the sounds he heard when reversing his record player. Through this learning process, it wasn’t long until John was able to speak backwards without the help of the record player and began forming a passion that he would continue developing and perfecting well into his adult life.
Showcasing His AbilityAs John got older, he took an interest in film and cinematography, even spending time working in a theater and eventually learning the ropes of video production. John found that he would be able to combine his skill of speaking backwards and love for film by recording himself moving and speaking backwards and then reversing the clips.
A still from one of John’s early films as a teenager. The entire project was filmed in reverse!
John made countless videos as a teen and young adult and has continued to do so to this day. More recently, John has filmed and self-produced a documentary about his life that has gone on to show at an independent film festival, showcasing his impressive ability to speak backwards. John has also garnered a social media following through posting video content under the name “The Backwards Dude” and has even gone on national shows such as America’s Got Talent to demonstrate his incredible skill.
Teaching an AudienceWhile John enjoys showcasing his ability and making other people smile through his content, he also hopes that his videos will help his audience embrace other people who are different. John would like to inspire kids to embrace their own differences and unique talents through demonstrating his own story and abilities to the world.
Find this story and more inside Ripley’s all-new book! Escape the Ordinary’s 256 pages spark curiosity, challenge perception, celebrate differences, and curate a sense of wonder for the weird world around us! Available for preorder now on Amazon and hitting the shelves at most major retailers on September 20, 2022.
SAY “NO” TO NORMAL Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Escape the Ordinary transports readers of all ages to a world beyond imagination — where truth is always stranger than fiction! Every turn of the page reveals all-new and all-true stories from around the globe. Filled with stunning photography and engaging content, this book is every curious reader’s ticket to Escape the Ordinary.Why We Have Our Best Ideas In The Shower
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Let’s set the scene. It’s either first thing in the morning once you hop out of bed or after your evening workout, or maybe even in the middle of the day if that’s what you prefer (this is judgement-free zone). You feel the water trickle down your back as you step into your safe space — the shower.
Aside from thinking about whether to soap your body or wash your hair first, there’s not much else to ponder over and you finally feel relaxed. Cue the creative genius.
Science Behind Shower ThoughtsOur brains allow us to think most creatively when dopamine is released. Dopamine is commonly referred to as a “feel-good” neurotransmitter that is released when you do something that encourages this feeling of excitement and joy.
A dopamine rush can be attributed to many different activities, including exercise, your favorite TV show, new music, cookies in the oven, and — you guessed it — even a warm shower or bath.
Alpha waves may also intensify once dopamine is released, which typically compliments the spaced-out feeling one gets when meditating or daydreaming. Therefore, a combination of dopamine and alpha waves is the ultimate recipe for max creativity.
Our “default mode network,” otherwise known as DMN, also turns on with the influx of dopamine. With this, we feel more relaxed, allowing our mind to make more meaningful connections and put thoughts together we may not have otherwise.
This DMN helps to activate the subconscious. This part of the brain is putting in work behind the scenes and is coming up with creative solutions for current problems (and you may not even realize it!). Your conscious mind might’ve pushed these same thoughts out of mind and out of sight, which plays into the idea that distraction is key for big ideas.
Daydreaming and random thoughts with little to no distraction from the outside world also puts your brain’s prefrontal cortex at ease. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for decision-making and most behavioral aspects of life. Therefore, when in the shower and not thinking about much else aside from which shampoo to use, there is more room in the brain for new thoughts to arise.
When your DMN is off, you are more laser-focused. This can help you check off tasks on your to-do list, but it might not necessarily stir up those creative ideas you need. Sometimes, it’s better to shut down your laptop and take a walk or hop in the shower. While distracted and the mind is elsewhere, the DMN can turn on and the little creative voice inside your head might just speak up to give you the answer to your problem or that big idea for your next work campaign.
On the ClockTime of day also matters. A lot of people tend to bathe in the morning or at night. These two times of day are when we’re most exhausted, so you may be wondering how we are supposed to have our best ideas in those conditions. Well, that’s when you’re at your creative peak. Unbeknownst to most, you are your most creative self when most tired — Believe It or Not!
Credit: Julie Smith Schneider
So stuck on a problem at work? Experiencing writer’s block? Store it away in the back of your brain and the perfect solution may just come when you least expect it – while conditioning your hair.
By Sam McCormack, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!
September 7, 2022
Headless Blemmyes: The Cryptid You’ve Never Heard Of
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
When it comes to cryptozoology, a handful of staple creatures get all the attention and cable television programs. These include Sasquatches, water monsters (like Nessie and Champ), aliens, and occasional appearances by local folkloric figures such as the Mothman.
Sadly, one anchor of the crypto world, Jeremy Wade, retired from River Monsters in 2017. Why? He ran out of mystery monsters: “Ten years ago, I had a list in my head, which seemed impossibly ambitious at the time, but everything has now been ticked off — and then some.”
But other mysteries remain. Like why do Bigfoot prints keep turning up? And Brachiosaurus-type critters still get sighted as Loch Ness and Lake Champlain? Eyewitness accounts and anecdotal evidence fuel these mysteries long after a dearth of evidence should put them to bed. Nothing better illustrates this than the history of the headless Blemmyes, a mostly forgotten mystical creature with a long literary shadow.
A Cryptozoology Star from the PastCryptozoology remains an incredibly popular subfield of science. And it’s easy to see why. Tales surrounding legendary creatures contain the tantalizing hope that some unexplored parts of the globe still exist, and some questions remain unanswered. In other words, these stories stoke our curiosity while reassuring us we don’t have it all figured out. There’s still some room for a metaphysical slice of the unknown, no matter how many field researchers trek across the Blue Planet.
Sasquatch statue, a staple of Cryptozoology. Credit: Oregon Department of Transportation Via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Whether you’re a mystery monster TV addict or occasional sampler, it’s easy to discern a pattern in many of these programs. (Although Jeremy Wade’s River Monsters usually got to the bottom of a given mystery with a hook in the jaw.) As for other shows, they typically assemble a team of so-called experts that search for evidence butting up against dead end after dead end.
A supposed Sasquatch hair turns out to be that of a deer. An image of the Loch Ness monster doesn’t pass the smell test. Or a video of a supposed river monster turns out to be a manatee. You get the point.
Despite an absence of reliable data, anecdotes and eyewitness accounts continue to keep these stories alive in the public imagination. This echoes the ancient and medieval obsession with the Blemmyes, a race of headless humans who always conveniently managed to exist outside the realm of discovery and civilization.
What the Libyans SayAlthough it sounds surreal today, headless Blemmyes were once considered a bona fide people group, thriving along the frontiers of discovery. Close enough to make occasional appearances but distant enough to prevent debunking. Between their humanoid appearances and their ability to appear and disappear at random, they had a lot in common with modern-day Sasquatches. Fortunately, they lacked the rank smell, bloodcurdling screams, and furry feet.
Via Wikimedia Commons.
Of course, one of the most vital areas of evidence regarding the existence of Bigfoot remains the great body of eyewitness accounts and oral histories. These include oral traditions stretching back to the pre-Columbian period in North America. But if you think that’s a clincher, wait until you see the incredible evidence related to the headless Blemmyes. They had so much documentation on these creatures that people remained convinced of their existence for centuries.
The first “historian” to delve into describing headless Blemmyes was Herodotus. In the fifth century BC, this ancient Greek author and father of historical narratives described them as “headless creatures with eyes in their chests (at least, that is what the Libyans say)” in his work The Histories. Herodotus also explained that where the tribe lived in Libya was filled with hilly, lush forests, the ideal place for eye-catching humanoids to hide.
A Famous List of “Expert” WitnessesHerodotus would be far from the last famous historical figure to discuss this tribe. For example, Strabo, a first-century Greek geographer, described Blemmyes as an honest-to-goodness people group inhabiting southern Nubia. Other scholars chimed in over the years thanks to a robust tradition of scholasticism.
Statue of the ancient greek historian Herodotus at the parliament of Vienna. Credit: morhamedufmg Via Wikimedia Commons.
These individuals represented a laundry list of famous figures, including Pliny the Elder, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Isidore of Seville. Sir Walter Raleigh’s account of these creatures in the New World is both funky and fascinating. He referred to them as Ewaipanoma or Iwaipanoma, stating that “they are reported to have their eyes in their shoulders, and their mouths in the middle of their breasts, and that a long train of hair growth backward between their shoulders.”
What’s more, references to the legend also made their way into medieval maps by cartographers and explorers like Andrea Bianco, Piri Reis, and the 12th-century Hereford Mappa Mundi. These references and images by famous historians, natural philosophers, cartographers, and explorers helped the headless Blemmyes gain even more traction. But despite all the anecdotes, the search for the headless Blemmyes — like so many other cryptid ventures — have so far headed nowhere. (Pun intended.)
By Engrid Barnett, contributor for Ripleys.com
EXPLORE THE ODD IN PERSON! Discover hundreds of strange and unusual artifacts and get hands-on with unbelievable interactives when you visit a Ripley’s Odditorium!Source: Headless Blemmyes: The Cryptid You’ve Never Heard Of
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