|
Ripley's Believe It Or Not! (1982 TV Series)
''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'', an American documentary television series which was hosted by Jack Palance and aired on ABC from 1982 to 1986 and is the second television version of ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!''. Based on the travels and discoveries of oddity-hunter Ripley, this show looked at the people, places and events that made up the stranger side of human history. Subjects have included Nikola Tesla, The Bermuda Triangle, The Elephant Man, and Mad King Ludwig. The series featured Palance or a co-host showcasing strange events, places of odd significance, trivia, and a commercial bumper (broadcasting) of original art from Ripley's comics. In a few cases, such as the assassination of Rasputin, Palance reenacted the event in period costume and a stage set. Henry Mancini and His Orchestra provided the theme song. The series was predated by two 1981 specials hosted by Palance on May 3, 1981 (directed by Ronald Lyon) and November 6, 1981. Co-hosts included actress Catherine Sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ripley Entertainment
Ripley Entertainment Inc. is an entertainment and edutainment holding company owned by the Jim Pattison Group of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company has its headquarters in an unincorporated part of southern Orange County, Florida, near Orlando, at an office complex near the intersection of Sand Lake Road and John Young Parkway. Originating with a small daily newspaper cartoon drawn by Robert Ripley, which debuted in 1918, the company now operates more than 90 attractions under a dozen brands worldwide. The daily Believe It or Not! cartoon that catapulted Ripley to fame in the 1920s is still printed and runs in hundreds of newspapers in more than 40 countries and in dozens of languages. The 32 Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums that house its signature collection of oddities in various countries have received more than 100 million visitors since 1933. Publishing interests ''Ripley Entertainment Inc.'' established Ripley Publishing Ltd to produce the Ripley's Bel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth Báthory
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed ( hu, Báthori Erzsébet, ; sk, Alžbeta Bátoriová; 7 August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the family of Báthory, who owned land in the Kingdom of Hungary (now Slovakia). Báthory and four of her servants were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls and women between 1590 and 1610. Her servants were put on trial and convicted, whereas Báthory was confined to her home. She was imprisoned within Castle of Csejte. The charges leveled against Báthory have been described by several historians as a witch-hunt. Other writers, such as Michael Farin in 1989 have said that the accusations against Báthory were supported by testimony from more than 300 individuals, some of whom described physical evidence and the presence of mutilated dead, dying and imprisoned girls found at the time of her arrest. In a 2018 article for ''Przegląd Nauk Historycznych (Historical Science Review)' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludwig II Of Bavaria
Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, and Duke in Swabia. Ludwig ascended to the throne in 1864 at the age of 18. Two years later, Bavaria and History of Austria, Austria fought Austro-Prussian War, a war against Prussia lasting only a matter of weeks, which they lost. However, in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Bavaria sided with Prussia in their successful war against France. Despite Ludwig's reluctance to support the Unification of Germany, Bavaria and 21 other monarchies became part of the new German Empire in 1871 (), with Wilhelm I, German Emperor, Wilhelm I, the Monarchy of Germany, King of Prussia and Ludwig's cousin, as the German Emperor (). Bavaria retained a large degree of autonomy within the Empire under the Constituti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's administrative limits as of 2022. Its province-level municipality is the third-most populous metropolitan city in Italy with a population of 3,115,320 residents, and its metropolitan area stretches beyond the boundaries of the city wall for approximately 20 miles. Founded by Greeks in the first millennium BC, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban areas in the world. In the eighth century BC, a colony known as Parthenope ( grc, Παρθενόπη) was established on the Pizzofalcone hill. In the sixth century BC, it was refounded as Neápolis. The city was an important part of Magna Graecia, played a major role in the merging of Greek and Roman society, and was a significant cultural centre under the Romans. Naples served a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Januarius
Januarius ( ; la, Ianuarius; Neapolitan and it, Gennaro), also known as , was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later sources and legends claim that he died during the Great Persecution, which ended with Diocletian's retirement in 305. Januarius is the patron saint of Naples, where the faithful gather three times a year in Naples Cathedral to witness the liquefaction of what is claimed to be a sample of his blood kept in a sealed glass ampoule. Life Little is known of the life of Januarius, and what follows is mostly derived from later Christian sources, such as the ''Acta Bononensia'' (BHL 4132, not earlier than 6th century) and the ''Acta Vaticana'' (BHL 4115, 9th century), and from later folk traditions. Legend According to various hagiographies, Januarius was born in Benevento to a rich patrician family that traced its descent to the Caudini tri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sufi Whirling
Sufi whirling (or Sufi turning) ( tr, Semazen borrowed from Persian Sama-zan, Sama, meaning ''listening'', from Arabic, and zan, meaning doer, from Persian) is a form of physically active meditation which originated among certain Sufi groups, and which is still practiced by the Sufi Dervishes of the Mevlevi order and other orders such as the Rifa'i-Marufi. It is a customary meditation practice performed within the sema, or worship ceremony, through which dervishes (also called ''semazens'', from Persian ) aim to reach the source of all perfection, or dharma. This is sought through abandoning one's nafs, ego or personal desires, by listening to the music, focusing on God, and spinning one's body in repetitive circles, which has been seen as a symbolic imitation of planets in the Solar System orbiting the sun. The Mevlevi practice gave rise to an Egyptian form, ''tanoura'', distinguished by the use of a multicolored skirt. This has also developed into a performance dance by non-S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dancing Procession Of Echternach
The dancing procession of Echternach is an annual Roman Catholic dancing procession held at Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach's is the last traditional dancing procession in Europe. The procession is held every Whit Tuesday. It honours Willibrord, the patron saint of Luxembourg, who established the Abbey of Echternach. Echternach has developed a strong tourism industry centred on the procession, which draws many thousands of tourists and pilgrims from around the world. The procession is inscribed in 2010 as ''hopping procession of Echternach'' on the UNESCO UNESCO Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Procession The ritual begins in the morning at the bridge over the Sauer, River Sauer, with a sermon delivered by the parish priest (formerly by the abbot of the monastery). “''Willibrordus-Bauverein''” officials organise the Procession, forming several dozen alternating groups of musicians an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Selkirk
Alexander Selkirk (167613 December 1721) was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific Ocean. He survived that ordeal but died from tropical illness years later while serving as a Lieutenant aboard off West Africa. Selkirk was an unruly youth and joined buccaneering voyages to the South Pacific during the War of the Spanish Succession. One such expedition was on ''Cinque Ports'', captained by Thomas Stradling under the overall command of William Dampier. Stradling's ship stopped to resupply at the uninhabited Juan Fernández Islands, west of South America, and Selkirk judged correctly that the craft was unseaworthy and asked to be left there. Selkirk's suspicions were soon justified, as ''Cinque Ports'' foundered near Malpelo Island 400 km (250 mi) from the coast of what is now Colombia. By ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robinson Crusoe
''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a travelogue of true incidents. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is presented as an autobiography of the title character (whose birth name is Robinson Kreutznaer) – a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical desert island near the coasts of Venezuela and Trinidad, roughly resembling Tobago, encountering cannibals, captives, and mutineers before being rescued. The story has been thought to be based on the life of Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish castaway who lived for four years on a Pacific island called "Más a Tierra" (now part of Chile) which was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966. Despite its simple narrative style, ''Robinson Crusoe'' was well received in the literary world and is often credited as ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Sangster
James Henry Kinmel Sangster (2 December 1927 – 19 August 2011) was a British screenwriter and director, most famous for his work on the initial horror films made by the British company Hammer Film Productions, Hammer Films, including ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957) and ''Dracula (1958 film), Dracula'' (1958). Early life The son of an estate agent, Sangster was born in Kinmel Bay, Kimmel Bay, North Wales and was educated at Ewell Castle School in Surrey, and Llandaff Cathedral School in Cardiff. He began his film career, aged 16, as a Clapperboard, clapper-boy. After service with the Royal Air Force, RAF, he worked as a third assistant director on Ealing Studios, Ealing Studios productions, then joined Exclusive Studios (later Hammer Film Productions, Hammer Films) in 1949. Career Sangster originally worked as a Production assistant#Television and feature film, production assistant at Hammer Films, as well as being an assistant director, Second unit#Directors, second un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alex Grasshoff
Alexander Grasshoff (December 10, 1928 – April 5, 2008) was an American documentary filmmaker and director who received three Oscar nominations. Along with fellow producer Robert Cohn, he is perhaps best known for writing and directing the documentary ''Young Americans'', which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature during the 1969 ceremony. However, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences soon found out the film had been shown first in October 1967, thus making it ineligible for a 1968 award and the Oscar was revoked. (This marks the only time, as of 2021, where an Academy Award was first awarded and then revoked.) Grasshoff, who reportedly slept with the Oscar on the first night, also directed Academy Award-nominated films '' The Really Big Family'' (1966) and ''Journey to the Outer Limits'' (1973). He also directed the award-winning '' The Wave'' (1981), based on Ron Jones' The Third Wave experiment, and ''Future Shock'' (1972), based on Alvin Toffler's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Joseph Campbell
Sir Francis Joseph Campbell (October 9, 1832 – June 30, 1914) was a British-American anti-slavery campaigner, teacher and also the co-founder of the Royal National College for the Blind in the United Kingdom. He was born near Winchester, Tennessee, USA, and lost his sight at the age of five following an accident. A talented musician, he taught music and at the age of 16 was appointed music master at the Tennessee School for the Blind and later went on to become musical director at the Wisconsin School for the Blind. He also taught at the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts. It was while he was teaching at Wisconsin that his anti-slavery views became publicly known and at one point he was given twenty four hours to renounce them or face being hanged. He refused but was spared death because of public sympathy for his blindness. He would later become a frequent traveller between the United States and the United Kingdom and Europe, and in 1871 helped Thom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
