As soon as I saw that tweet, I knew Ripley’s needed to be a part of Kelly Mill Elementary School’s 4th grade Believe It or Not! Odditorium.

A couple tweets and an email or two later, and we were in!

Biggest Penguin

Some of my personal favorite exhibits are:

• Longest Beard- sunglasses wrapped with yarn
• Biggest Penguin- papier-mâché
• Largest Dog Eyelash-­ cardboard and yarn
• Largest Mohawk- cardboard and paint
• Longest Fingernails- glove and masking tape

I caught up with the teachers who initiated the project and asked a few questions.

Q: How long have you been teaching

Mrs. Kuhn- 12 years, Mrs. Fulkerson- 9 years, Mr.Walkup-7 years

Longest Beard

Kelly Mill opened this school year.  We are a BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) school and have a lot of parent involvement.  We like to do things “differently” and “dream big”.  Relating the things we learn about to real life is always a goal in our classrooms. We focus many assignments around student interests and offer a variety of choices to students.  The outcome of these goals often lead to project based learning and standards reaching beyond the classroom.  Our student population is incredible and the students come to school wanting to learn.

Q: Tell me a little bit about your project

The project included the students researching several crazy facts, all dealing with measurement. Each child then narrowed their choices to their favorite topic.  Students then researched and wrote an informational piece about their crazy fact and a related topic.  Next they created a visual to go along with their work. We were impressed with their range of ideas and creativity, as well as, problem solving and cooperative work. All students practiced speaking to an audience knowing that they would need to vary their presentations to teach individuals ranging in age from 5-75 years old.  Finally we set up all projects in a museum like fashion and invited our guests in to see our hard work.

Smallest Van

The children love the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! books.  They are the most popular books, by far, in our classrooms.  Our school has a “multi-purpose” room that several teachers have used throughout the year for “museum like” projects.  We figured it would be a fun experience for the kids to recreate a museum based on the facts they have learned about in these books.

Q: How did the kids react to the project

This has been one of the top projects we have ever done and the kids have LOVED every minute of it.  We believe this is a project they will never forget!

Q: Were the kids fans of Ripley’s before the project

YES!!!!!! HUGE FANS! Most were at least, and those that may not have been, are now!

Q: What was the students biggest takeaway from the project

Logest Fingernails

Q: Anything else you would like to add

We believe this project would not have been possible without “Ripley’s” being established.  We estimated approximately 1,500 visitors have come thru our museum. They all loved it and learned something new, young and old.

We ♥ U, Kelly Mill Elementary!

We were so impressed with the creative thinkers at Kelly Mill Elementary, we decided to send the kids a little gift.  Each student went home with one of our RBI books, and we we donated a collection of other Ripley books to the library. We hope the kids like them!

Kelly Mill Teachers

Amy and Katie just might be the most unbelievable twins ever. Although they are very healthy now, there were complications during the pregnancy which caused the sisters to be born 87 days apart!

“I always felt I was going to have twins and even as soon as I found out I was pregnant Chris said: ‘Oh that’ll be twins then’ as they run in the family,” -Mother, Maria Jones–Elliott

The parents, Chris and Maria Jones-Elliot, were already proud parents of two when they found out two more members were to be added to their family.

23 weeks into the pregnancy is when complications started to arise.  Maria gave birth to Amy, and at 1lbs 3oz, she was put into intensive care.

The doctors tried to deliver the second child, but Katie wasn’t ready to meet the world yet! 87 days later, Katie was ready to join her parents and twin sister.  She arrived into the world weighing 5lbs 10oz.

“Our friends and family helped us – Chris’s colleagues even worked hours for him. I don’t know how we’d have got through it without them,” Maria

These resilient twin sisters are truly unbelievable!

Jones-Elliot Family

But the woman sure did.  The 55-year-old woman from India went to the hospital because she had been experiencing a tickling sensation in her lower throat for about a week.

Finger Lickin’ Good

The lady had eaten some chicken and she assumed a bone had become lodged in her throat.  Boy, was she wrong!

Upon examination, the doctors found a centipede in the upper part of oesophagus, the passage between the pharynx and the stomach.  The most bizarre part is that the centipede was still alive!

No word on how the centipede survived living in the woman’s throat.   What would you do if you found a centipede in your throat?  Release it into the wild, or dispose of it by some other means?

Source: Indian Express

Li Hongbo’s sculptures will make you look twice.  First glance you think they are carved from hard stone, but look again…Hongbo’s sculptures are nothing more than thousand’s of pieces of paper glued together!

Hongbo got his inspiration from Chinese paper toys that become unique shapes when they are pulled.  He brought a few of  the toys home and experimented to see how they worked.

The bust shown here is made from over 30,000 pieces of delicate paper glued together.  He then uses an electric saw to carve the human shape.

Besides being an accomplished artist,  Hongbo is also a book editor and designer. He likes to juxtapose a stretched piece next to a still piece to show “the endless possibilities of paper.”

Watch the video posted at the top of the blog.  The pieces in movement is amazing!

You could also put it this way, if a Transformer had a child, this is what it might look like half way between changing from a robot to a car. Please DO NOT attempt any of shenanigans you’re about to watch and read about.

In Honor of the Peel Car

Peel Car in NY

Ripley’s Believe it or Not! owns several Peel cars and they can be found in many of our Odditoriums around the world. It is likely that you will bump into a Peel car as someone from Ripley’s takes it out for a spin around the area.

So, What’s a P45 Microcar?

A takeoff on the Peel P50, the P45 has the drivetrain of a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle, but all the turn signals, lights, and license plates needed to make it street-legal in the United Kingdom.

With a helmet for a roof, a visor for a windshield, and no side doors, the contraption calls to mind a Cozy Coupe crossed with a LEGO spaceman, and turns out to be only slightly more roadworthy.

“I promise it’s a real car,” Clarkson says, before making the ill-advised decision to attempt to prove it by taking the thing onto a public highway. The trip starts out auspiciously enough, save for some bone-jostling potholes. And the host ably demonstrates some of the benefits to an automobile that makes a Smart car look like a fortress by comparison.

You can fill it up with gas without getting out.  But by the end, when Clarkson steers onto the A3, the trip devolves into… well, just watch the video at the top of the post. Unbelievable? Believe it!

Small enough to drive inside a library

[source]

Carlos  Montalvo has had to keep quiet about a miracle that happened to him for over 25 years.

Carlos Montalvo w/ his miracle gun

Montalvo is a former undercover federal agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  He is recently retired, so can now freely talk about what happened on October 20, 1987 in a mall parking lot in Miami.

During an encounter with a drug suspect,  Montalvo came under fire.  The suspect,  23-year-old William Morales, was in a car when he opened fire on Montalvo.  What happened next is what Montalvo calls a “One in 20 million shot.”

Deconstructing the Unbelievable

“The first round that he shot at me went down the barrel of my pistol and smashed my bullet,” said Montalvo.

Montalvo's bullet that was stopped by another
bullet that shot down the barrel of his gun

“His bullet went so straight through the barrel of my gun that it felt like the recoil of my bullet going out. And he beat me by fractions of seconds on me pulling the trigger.”

Wait, it gets better!

Not only did a bullet shoot down the barrel of Montalvo’s gun while he was shooting, but it was shot from a .9mm Sig Sauers, THE EXACT SAME MAKE AND MODEL AS MONTALVO’S GUN! 

Officers that were on the scene confirm how lucky Montalvo is:

  “I heard the shot, I looked, I saw him fall down and to boot he wasn’t even wearing a vest, a bullet proof vest. Which like I said it was an all-around miracle,”
-Carlos  Zayas, Police Sergeant.

Unbelievable…But Not Ripley’s First!

Marshal W. Pitman shaking
hands with Robert Ripley

In 1932 Robert Ripley hosted a Believe It or Not! Contest.  He invited anyone from all over the world to submit their best Believe It or Not! (BION).

Out of 5 million entries, Robert Ripley picked Walter Pitman as one of the winners!  Pitman received an all expenses paid trip for two to Cuba.

Pitman was the Marshal of Wharton, Texas.   On September 15, 1917 Marshal Pitman tried to arrest Francisco Lopez for public intoxication.

Lopez was in no mood to be arrested that evening.  He drew his gun and shot two bullets at Pitman.  Pitman returned fire, and his first bullet went down the muzzle of the pistol and jammed Lopez’s gun!

Close to 30 years later, Pitman hears of Ripley’s BION contest.  He enters his incredible story and wins!  Not only that, we still have the pistol.  It is currently being exhibited at our Odditorium in Williamsburg, VA.

Cartoon featuring Marshal W. Pitman

An 11-year-old boy from Spain was really, really scared of what his teacher was going to say to his father during a parent-teacher conference.  So scared he decided the best tactic would be just to avoid it altogether. 

Stock image of a mean teacher.
Not the actual teacher.

Stroke of Genius

To avoid the uncomfortable conference the little boy had a stroke of genius: Fake his kidnapping!

He sent a text to his father that he had been kidnapped.  His father, a police office, called his son’s phone immediately.  The little boy told answered and told his cop father he had been kidnapped while taking out the trash and was now locked in the trunk of a car.

Of course the boy’s father sent out a nationwide alert.  As the dad was searching the grounds of his home for clues, he noticed the keys to another home he owned were missing.  The dad went to the apartment and found the little boy hiding out!

The kid fessed up to his crime: he was afraid of the parent-teacher conference so he faked his own kidnapping.  Good idea kid!  I’m sure that little stunt helped your father forgive you for your failing grades!

*Photo at top is a stock image of a boy in a trunk.  Not the actual boy from this news story.

Tell me if the following doesn’t sound like the perfect job:

• Stroll into the office around 9 am
• 9-10 Check out the top memes on Reddit
• 10-11:30 Watch internet cat videos
• 11:30-1:30 Go to a relaxing lunch
• 1:30-3:00  See how your bids are faring on EBay
• 3:00-4:30 Lurk on Facebook
• 4:30 Email your boss, and let them know what a productive day you had
• 5 Call it a day.  Try to beat rush hour

I know what the people in my office are thinking- Reddit, cat videos, Facebook-  sounds pretty close to what I get paid to do…and my esteemed coworkers would be correct.  I do get paid to surf the net and play on Facebook.  However,  I work in social media and keeping up the most viral imgur of the day is directly related to my job.

I am not a computer programmer who makes a couple hundred thousand a year and then outsources my job to a firm in China for 50,000.

Andrew Valentine works for the Verizon Risk Team. He gets hired by other companies to analyze their network for security leaks.  One company, let’s call them Company X, noticed that someone from China was logging into their network everyday.  Andrew ultimately traced the login  to Employee X.  Employee X had hired a firm in China to do his entire job for less than 1/5 of his salary…which left a lot of time on Employee X’s hands to watch cat videos.

Not only had Employee X outsourced his job to China, but he also had picked up a ton of freelance work and outsourced that work too!

I think the worst part of all this is Employee X was loved by upper management!  His employee reviews were outstanding and was considered to be one of the top developers of the company!

 Source

Question: What do you get when three elderly people go shopping at the same grocery store? Answer: A couple of car thieves!  

1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
(Not actual car)

An unnamed couple in their 70′s went to their local Red Apple Marketplace.  When they left they hopped into their 1993 Chrysler LeBaron and scooted on home…or so they thought.  They actually had gotten behind the wheel of a 1992 Oldsmobile Cutlass!

The owner of the Cutlass, an elderly woman who shall also remain nameless, reported her car stolen when she left the grocery store and her car was no where in sight.  I’m not sure what she expected would happen…she had left the keys in the ignition and the car unlocked!

1992 Chrysler LeBaron
(Not actual car)

The police investigated and low and behold, the Cutlass that had been reported stolen 5 days prior was sitting in the garage!

Luckily for the elderly couple, no charges were file.  The police organized a car swap!  Now all early 90′s white vehicles are back with their proper owners.

Let’s take a look back at 12 of the favorite posts from 2012! Starting with Last January and working our way to December, this year we had a number of amazing stories on our blog. Did your favorite make the list?

A NEW WAY TO LOSE YOUR WEDDING RING

After searching for her diamond wedding ring Swedish couple Lena and Ola Paahlsson gave up hope. It wash’t until 16 years later that she notice a carrot that had an unusual bit of luster sprouting from within its top. When she pulled the carrot out of the ground she found her white-gold band with seven small diamonds, it was her lost wedding ring! Read more Here

IT’S A BIRD… IT’S A PLANE… IT’S A SKYDIVING DOG!

Meet Otis, the ultimate skydiving dog. This 10 year old pug has joined his master on dozens of skydiving expeditions, of course they go tandem. Otis has been skydiving for 9 years and he, with his owner Will DeSilva, have had over 60 jumps together. Check out the video!

UNBELIEVABLE BACKFLIPS ON A WHEELCHAIR!

Aaron Fotheringham is a world-renowned extreme wheelchair athlete. Fortheringham has Spina Bifida and has used a wheelchair since he was three years old. But Aaron never let anything stop him. He has performed on a fifty-foot ramp-to-ramp jump, doing double backflips. In New Zealand he performed the world’s first wheelchair frontflip! We find his talents and passion pretty unbelievable! See More Here!

WORLD’S BIGGEST BUNNY

Darius is the world’s largest bunny. At only 2 years old he is 49 lbs and stretching to a length of 4 feet, 3 inches from nose to puffy tail! His owner, Annette Edwards, plans to bulk the bunny up another lbs! He has a pretty good diet with 12 carrots a day, and hay, cabbage, apples, and of course rabbit mix. Darius is now on tour all over the world, he is even bringing out a book for children! Check out more cute pictures.

VACCUUM-SEALED LOVE

“Flesh Love”. Tokyo artist Haruhiko Kawaguchi vacuum packs couples in a 100x150x74 cm plastic bag! The idea is to keep love fresh forever…. how, um… romantic? Kawaguchi has the couples get into the bag and after the air is sucked out of the bag by a vacuum cleaner, he has 10-20 seconds to take his pictures. Anything longer could be dangerous. So far 80 couples have participated and the photographs are quite amazing. Here are more unbelievable pictures!

FORE!

How’s your golf game? If you are anything like me, your ball manages to find it’s water to the water every time. This is normally fine, but at the Carbrook Golf Club in Brisbane, Australia it takes on a new meaning to the term “water hazard”. The water on their 15th hole is full of sharks! There are currently six 10-foot bull sharks that call this course home. You better master your land game before you play this course! But first, watch the video

KABANG, THE HERO DOG

Arguably the most heroic story from this year was about Kabang the dog who saved the lives of two girls. Dina, age 9, and Princess, age 3, were crossing a busy street in Zamboanga City, Phillipines their family dog saw a motorcycle barreling down toward them. Kabang leaped in front of the motorcycle and saved the girls! Kabang knocked the motorist off the bike, but her upper snout got caught in the wheel. Thankfully she survived and is currently being treated at UC Davis in California. If you would like to donate to Kabang you can here www.careforkabang.com, and follow her progress at the UC Davis Veterinary Hospital. You can also read more on our blog! Click Here.

FEARLESS SPACE JUMP

Felix Baumgartner successful completed what many would consider the most unbelievable stunt ever. Baumgartner AKA “Fearless Felix” became the world’s first super sonic skydiver. That’s right, He jumped from space! He had a 24 mile free fall, broke the sound barrier, reached 833.9 mph, was the first person to go faster than the speed of sound without the assistant of an aircraft, and had over 8 million people watch live on YouTube! Watch the clip now!

BODY BAKERY

Kittiwat Unarrom creates some pretty gruesome pieces. But don’t worry – these severed body parts are made out of bread! Unarrom is a Thai artist whose family runs a bakers. Even though they look scary, they are pretty tasty to eat! Think of the dinner talk if you served some of these at your next party. More pictures here.

FLOWER POWER

The first Sunday of September in Zundert, Netherlands is the annual Bloemencorso Flower Parade. This spectacular parade has been held every year since 1936. But these aren’t normal floats, these are amazing works of art! Only dahlia flowers are allowed in the parade, which decorate each giant float. It takes hundreds of workers and thousands of flowers to complete each one. More amazing floats here.

HUMAN MOTORCYCLES

Look closely, because this is not your average motorcycle picture. The woman on the motorcycle is body painted head to toe. But that bike she is sitting on, isn’t a bike, it is more people body painted! They used professional yoga instructors to contort into the motorcycles and with the help of Tina Merry, professional Bodypaint Artist, they created some spectacular pieces! Check out the video and more pictures!

THE AMAZING AMBIDEXTROUS SIYUAN

Talk about right brain, left brain! 24-year-old Siyuan Checn from China is not only able to write with both hands simultaneously, she cane write in TWO SEPARATE LANGUAGES AT THE SAME TIME! Wow! When Chen was learning English she found the only was to finish all of her homework in time was to double her efforts! Watch the video to see for yourself!