“……. Believe it or Not”
Here are some unusual and obtuse historical facts about this one of a kind legend.
Le Roy Robert Ripley ( 1890-1949) was an American cartoonist, entrepreneur, curator, entertainer & anthropologist. He is best known for creating the “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” series.
He started his cartoon feature in 1918. The New York Globe published it under the title “ Champs and Chums”. It dealt with sports trivia. By 1919 he had added other topics and changed the name to “Believe it or Not’.
Ripley collected all kinds of unusual objects and trivia. in 1933 he opened his first museum at Chicago World’s Fair. Over 2 million people attended and by far the most popular exhibition.
The descriptive name given to all Ripley’s museum around the world is Odditorium. The first permanent one opened in St Augustine, Florida in 1950. Today there are over 50 Odditoriums located all over the world and each of them is unique.
In 1920 takes his first solo trip to cover the Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium. Then on December 3rd 1922 takes his first trip around the world.
Hires Researcher and Linguist Norbert Pearlroth. As a primary researcher for over 50 years, Norbert used to spend 10 hours a day, 6 days a week at the New York Public Library. The library estimated that Norbert examined over 7000 books each year.
Ripley’s Believe it or Not, is responsible for the adoption of The National Anthem. On November 3rd 1929, Ripley remarked in one of his comics- ‘ America has no National Anthem’. Americans across the country insisted that this issue be rectified. By 1931 laws were passed and “ The Star Sapngled Banner” was officially named The National Anthem.
Charles Shultz, the creator of ‘ Peanuts’ has his first work published in Ripley’s. His entry was based on his dog Sparky. This Beagle became the model for Snoopy.
In 1949, Ripley’s Believe it or Not aired on television for the first time with Robert Ripley as the host. He hosted the show for only 13 episodes. Shortly after the filming the 13th episode, Ripley died of a heart attack aged 59.
He had visited 201 countries during his life time. During World War II, travel became impossible so Ripley concentrated on charity pursuit.
The last segment doe by Ripley was on the origin of the funeral dirge “Taps”. This trumpet or bugle solo is routinely played at the funerals of soldiers, policemen and others who die in the line of Duty. This fact had caused a stir among the public and has just added to Mr Ripley’s mystique.
UNBELIEVEABLE!. Believe it.