Ripley's Believe It or Not! - 🧛🏻‍♂️ A Real Vampire?

 

#1 – Up Close & Peculiar With a Real Vampire! Take a look inside the head of Peter Kürten, one of the most notorious serial killers in history. Peter Kürten is one of the most notorious serial killers in history. Today, we're taking a look inside the head (literally!) of the Vampire of Düsseldorf. Peter Kürten was practically raised to be a serial killer. He grew up with an extremely violent father, and at the age of nine, he allegedly killed his first two victims, two of his friends, that he drowned in a river. Around this time, his violence also extended to animals, which is where he first realized that he had an affinity for blood... Read Here #2 – The Diverse World of Sea Jellies Gelatinous, otherworldly, and utterly beautiful—but what actually are they? Well, they’re not fish, that much is for certain! Jellyfish, or addressed by the more accurate term, sea jellies, are invertebrate marine animals. As a free-swimming species, sea jellies rely on the ocean’s current to travel throughout the deep waters of the world. Therefore, they are classified as a large form of zooplankton since they are unable to drive themselves against the tides. As ancient animals, jellies have drifted through the ocean for around 500 million years, making them older than dinosaurs... Read Here #3 – Charlie McCarthy: The Dummy Only Dummies Didn't Listen To More people listened to this dummy than listened to Orson Welles's "War of the Worlds." While the idea that Orson Welles’s radio dramatization of War of the Worlds started a nationwide panic of people believing the planet to be under the threat of an alien invasion, most people actually had their radios tuned to the comedic chatter of a ventriloquist dummy named Charlie McCarthy. Charlie McCarthy was the character and puppet used by Edgar Bergen in his ventriloquist act. The doll was a well-dressed teenager, well-versed in catcalling and innuendo. Bergen actually had the doll made when he was in his teens, saving up $35—quite a lot at the time—to have master dummy-maker, Theodore Mack, craft the head and internals... Read Here #4 – Electric Eels: A Biological Battery There is more than meets the eye with these incredible creatures of the deep! Electric eels are shockingly unique creatures, but did you know their electric ability is more than just defense against predators? Let's take a deep dive into the biological batteries of the sea! Electric eels use their shock for a variety of reasons. Since these animals live in dark, murky waters and have very poor eyesight, they often rely on emitting various levels of electricity. In doing so, electric eels create a “radar” to communicate with each other, locate waters, warn off predators, and catch prey... Read Here Dare to Discover Prepare to get lost in a vortex of weird and wonderful stories with Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Dare to Discover! From jaw-dropping feats and silly animals to unusual art and strange places, our next annual book is full of strange-but-true facts, fascinating features, and phenomenal photography from around the world. Use code 50RIPLEY for 50% off pre-sale orders of Dare to Discover on Amazon now through July 6, 2024. Pre-Order Today Experience the Excitement of Ripley’s Where the unbelievable comes alive right before your eyes! Venturing through themed galleries, adults and children alike will become immersed in curiosities, incredible art, animal oddities, pop-culture memorabilia, interactive games, and stories of people and places that are incredibly hard to believe, but undeniably true! Get Tickets

Ripley's Believe It or Not! - 🦕 Did Dinos Fly?

 

#1 – Were Pterodactyls and Other ‘Flying Dinosaurs' Actually Dinosaurs? It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a flying reptile? From the United States to Germany, Brazil, and China, Pterodactyls inhabited many different locations from the late Triassic period to the end of the Cretaceous Period. But, unlike their Tyrannosaurus rex or Stegasaurus neighbors, they were not dinosaurs. These winged creatures were actually flying reptiles! Soaring through the air for more than 160 million years, Pterodactyl is the common term for those in the Pterodactylus, or Pteranodon, genera. As kids, we were taught that pterosaurs are dinosaurs, but they actually have unique characteristics that set them apart. One of the most observable traits is the... Read Here #2 – The Eccentric and Not-So-Eccentric Life of Edgar Allan Poe A parrot was first considered to be the titular bird, rather than The Raven. Edgar Allan Poe is a name that conjures up daydreams of the dreadful, thoughts of graveyards and goblins, ravens, and writing desks, in many cases. But, though his story is often shrouded in mystery and punched up for tragedy, in reality, Poe’s life saw the mundane about as often as the macabre. Here are some strange facts about Poe that his legend doesn’t usually tend to shine a light on... Read Here #3 – Debunking 5 of the Weirdest Laws We’ve Ever Heard Does Utah have a law prohibiting women from swearing? The United States has some really odd laws scattered around the country. In Hawaii, for example, people aren’t allowed to put coins in their ears (King Kamehameha enacted the legislation in 1847). And in Texas, you’re prohibited from selling a human eye (this one makes sense because it’s illegal to peddle human organs). It’s unclear why some of these bizarre laws were created, and many are outdated and not enforced any longer. Still, we all know the internet has a way of circulating information that isn’t always accurate. Check out some weird laws that you may have heard about that aren’t true at all... Read Here #4 – Does Alcohol Evaporate Out of Food When Cooked? Why some boozed-infused dishes might give you a hangover... Lager-spiked beef chili, beer-broiled bratwursts, coq au vin, chicken marsala, pork brined in rum. Ah, nothing says delicious quite like alcohol-saturated dishes—especially when it comes to beer or wine-infused meat: tender, moist, and downright delectable. Of course, if you’ve ever watched a chef on TV or cracked open a cookbook to make one of these recipes, you’ve probably come across advice like, “Let the dish simmer for a few minutes to cook out any remaining alcohol.” This begs the question: does alcohol actually evaporate out of food when cooked? Yes and no. Read on for the skinny on cooking with booze... Read Here Dare to Discover Prepare to get lost in a vortex of weird and wonderful stories with Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Dare to Discover! From jaw-dropping feats and silly animals to unusual art and strange places, our next annual book is full of strange-but-true facts, fascinating features, and phenomenal photography from around the world. Use code 50RIPLEY for 50% off pre-sale orders of Dare to Discover on Amazon now through July 6, 2024. Pre-Order Today Experience the Excitement of Ripley’s Where the unbelievable comes alive right before your eyes! Venturing through themed galleries, adults and children alike will become immersed in curiosities, incredible art, animal oddities, pop-culture memorabilia, interactive games, and stories of people and places that are incredibly hard to believe, but undeniably true! Get Tickets

Ripley's Believe It or Not! - 🐕 Weird White House Pets

 

#1 – EDGAR CAYCE: TALES FROM THE “SLEEPING PROPHET” From Houdini to Marilyn Monroe, celebrities clamored to Edgar Cayce for psychic readings. Few clairvoyants enjoyed the renown of Edgar Cayce (1877-1945), America’s “Sleeping Prophet.” During his lifetime, Cayce gave more than 14,000 documented readings to a wide range of people, including celebrities like Harry Houdini, Thomas Edison, Woodrow Wilson, and Marilyn Monroe. These readings covered a wide variety of topics, including personal matters and health conditions. He also foretold events, from Atlantis’s rediscovery to the outbreak of World War II. Yet, he earned his most famous moniker, the “Sleeping Prophet,” because of his purported ability to... READ HERE! #2 – THE BIZARRE HISTORY OF WHITE HOUSE PETS From presidential pups to Billy the hippo, the White House has seen it all. What’s a presidency without a pet (or ten)? Our former United States presidents have had a slew of animals occupy the White House during their time in the Oval Office. Inevitably, many of these pets became just as notable as their owners — some even earning themselves TV spots and newspaper headlines. Between raccoons, hippos, dogs, bobcats and even bears, there’s been a longstanding history of traditional and not-so-traditional White House pets and we’ve rounded up some of our favorites... READ HERE! #3 – THE DESERTED KINGDOM OF BURJ AL BABAS The luxury residential town that never was. Burj al Babas is a state-of-the-art luxury resort community in Turkey equipped with a world-class aqua park, spa, and a $200 million development price tag! The catch? The community was never fully completed and now sits abandoned with little hope of completion in its future. In the northwestern Turkish town of Mudurnu, a peculiar and ghostly sight awaits those who venture a few kilometers south. Burj Al Babas, once envisioned as a European-inspired haven in the heart of the Middle East, now stands as a... READ HERE! #4 – COULD ALLIGATORS SURVIVE IN THE SEWERS OF NEW YORK CITY? The city sewer commissioner once staged a gator hunt. Sewer Gators Since the 1930s, people have believed that alligators live in the sewers of New York City and other cities. This idea became popular in the 1950s and has continued for many years. This urban legend was said to come from Teddy May, who was the Commissioner of the Sewers at that time. May was reported as saying several inspectors spotted alligators in the cities’ underground tunnels circa 1935. Without any real proof of their existence, May set about to rid the city of the phantom gators. Using poison bait and luring them into the cities’ main tunnels, hunters stood on guard, rifles in hand, waiting for... READ HERE! #5 – A PILGRIM UFO SIGHTING CAME LONG BEFORE ROSWELL They speculated that the light somehow transported them back to where they started. America’s First UFO Sighting? Many Americans believe the first UFO sightings occurred in 1947 at Mount Rainier in Washington and then Roswell, New Mexico. These reports of flying saucers caused a sensation in American newspapers and have led to decades of speculation. But were these really the first UFO sightings in North America? According to the Puritans, the answer’s a firm no. Strange Happenings in New England The first recorded UFO sighting occurred in 1639 near present-day Boston and was recorded that same year by John Winthrop, the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. His journal entry dated March 1st gives a... READ HERE! LEVEL UP! LEVEL 20 UNLOCKED WITH RIPLEY'S NEWEST BOOK Push the limit. Progress. Pride yourself on what makes you stand out and take things to the next level! That’s what Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is inspiring readers to do with the twentieth edition of their annual book, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Level Up. Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Level Up  is on sale and available at major retailers and on Amazon. GET YOUR COPY TODAY! EXPERIENCE THE EXCITEMENT OF RIPLEY’S Where the unbelievable comes alive right before your eyes! Venturing through themed galleries, adults and children alike will become immersed in curiosities, incredible art, animal oddities, pop-culture memorabilia, interactive games, and stories of people and places that are incredibly hard to believe, but undeniably true! GET TICKETS!