The World of Ripley's Believe it or Not - Tapa dura

Reseña del editor

It's shocking but irresistible. The fantastic and amazing World of Ripley's Believe It or Not(R) uncovers and relates curiosities from around the globe. Its full-color, oversized format and round trim make it a suitably remarkable package to display the bizarre findings of Robert Ripley, who traveled to 198 countries to research his famous newspaper cartoon strip. Starting with his first drawing in 1918 and the first Ripley museum in the 1930s, this book is filled with examples of human oddities, exotic artifacts, strange happenings, unusual inventions, marvels of nature, extraordinary achievements and coincidences. Readers will be amazed by the truly macabre world that Ripley captured. Hundreds of photographs show the real people and things that inspired the famous drawings. Exotic objects and human feats stretch the limits of the mind, body and imagination. Here readers will meet world champion chicken picker Buck Fulford who could catch, kill, cook and eat a chicken in less than two minutes; Alice Penfold who could lift her sister Mary on a stool using only her teeth; "Three Ball Charlie" who could put a tennis ball, golf ball and billiards ball in his mouth and still whistle; and Liu Ch'ung of China who has double pupils in each eye.

Contraportada

VISIT MINDBOGGLING PLACES, WITNESS DEATH DEFYING STUNTS, DISCOVER OUTLANDISH INVENTIONS AND SEE FANTASTIC HUMAN ACHIEVEMENTS THAT ROBERT RIPLEY UNEARTHED ON HIS LIFE-LONG QUEST FOR THE INCREDIBLE AND BIZARRE

When Captain J.H. Hedley of Chicago, Illinios fell out of a plane nearly three miles up in the air on January 6, 1918, he was probably sure he'd had his last plane ride. But no--the plane was making a steep vertical dive in line with his own fall, and Hedley alighted on the tail. He was brought back down to earth shaken, but none the worse for wear...

And for Those with Hearty Appetites...

A huge omelette composed of 7,200 eggs was fried in a pan 8 feet across. It weighed half a ton! The pan was greased by attaching slabs of bacon to the feet of girls who turned it into a skating rink.

Alfred Langevin of Detroit, Michigan could blow up balloons, smoke a cigarette, and play a recorder--through his eye! He was featured in a 1930 Believe It or Not! cartoon, appeared at Ripley's Odditoriums from 1933 to 1940, in a 1931 compendium and on a postcard.

Charles C. Russell, inspired by a Believe It or Not! cartoon, hoisted 12 cups of coffee with one hand and his sister with the other hand--while on ice skates! Russell, an ice skating and barbell instructor at the South Chicago "Y," could also hoist a bar over his head with a woman seated at either end--a total of 265 pounds. Again, he did all this on ice skates--but this time, the two women he hoisted were playing ukuleles!

She found "God" in her eggplant! On Sunday, August 15, 1948, Mrs. Henry G. Hesslink of Amsterdam, New York was preparing dinner for her family when she discovered that the eggplant she was slicing had been "signed" by its creator! (September 25, 1948.)