|
 |
Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel, Jr. (born October 17, 1938 in Butte, Montana) is a motorcycle daredevil who has been a household name since the late 1960s. Evel Knievel's highly publicized motorcycle jumps, including his attempt to jump over the Snake River Canyon, claim four of the top 20 most-watched Wide World of Sports events of all time.
Tags:
Added: 11th July 2007
Views: 463
Rating: 
Posted By: BKV |
 
|
 |
On October 24, 1901, Anna Edson Taylor became the first person to plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel and live to tell about it. The 43-year-old school teacher from Bay City, Michigan had no credentials as a daredevil. Anna could not even swim! She dreamed up the scheme merely as a money-making ploy. She rode in a 160-pound oak barrel. It was only 4-1/2 feet long and just 4 feet in diameter at its widest point. The barrel contained a 100-pound anvil that served as ballast to keep it upright in the water. A crude pump supplied Anna with air. Cushions fastened with leather straps were intended to keep Anna from getting hurt. Seven iron hoops were all that held the barrel together. The stunt was well publicized and several thousand people were on hand to view the event. They watched the barrel descend down the 167-foot waterfall. (It took three seconds.) It remained submerged at the bottom for another 10 seconds. When the barrel was hauled out of the water, Anna emerged bruised and bleeding from a slight cut behind her right ear. She was babbling incoherently for a few moments, but she had survived. Anna attempted to cash in on her achievement with public speaking engagements. However, from all accounts, she spoke in a boring, emotionless, raspy monotone that put audiences to sleep. Furthermore, she stupidly got rid of the barrel which would have added immensely to her dull lecture. For years afterwards Anna eked out a meager living selling autographs in Niagara Falls beside a facsimile barrel. She died in 1921.
Tags:
Anna
Edson
Niagara
Falls
Daredevil
Added: 21st November 2007
Views: 318
Rating: 
Posted By: Lava1964 |
|
|
 |
Evel Knievel, the red-white-and-blue-spangled motorcycle daredevil whose jumps over crazy obstacles including Greyhound buses, live sharks and Idaho's Snake River Canyon made him an international icon in the 1970s, died today. He was 69.
His death was confirmed by his granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs. In 1999 he had undergone a liver transplant after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his bone-shattering spills.
Tags:
evel
knievel
daredevil
motorcyclists
Added: 30th November 2007
Views: 1068
Rating:
Posted By: Naomi |
|
|
 |
That's Incredible! had a four-year network run from 1980 through 1984. It was ABC's response to NBC's popular Real People. The show featured stuntmen, daredevils, contortionists, and an assortment of oddballs.
Tags:
Thats
Incredible
Added: 18th December 2007
Views: 400
Rating:
Posted By: Lava1964 |
|
|
|
|
Browse Media
