Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for June 05, 2021

two centuries later, what European nation still appreciates and still plays the glass armonica?

I actually had the opportunity to hear a glass armonica concert a few years ago. It really is an incredible-sounding instrument, but it’s so difficult to maintain and play that I understand the unpopularity.

Glass harmonica, eh. I has never heards of it.

She’ll put it on the back of a pickup truck, and it’ll be on the road again with her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LP8QFR9Qvc

Willy still gets it, whatever he’s on.

That speed record might be broken, but, if history is any guide, some brave souls will be too, before it’s done.

Ben also gave us the ‘lending library,’ and, thank goodness, that didn’t fade away. Gotta lotta people through the last 18 months that might not otherwise be with us now.

Thank Ben, for that, and for his efforts to get the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution through a not-exactly cooperative Congress. That, too, has kept us whole through some very rough times, including those we now face.

And Andy still has the g-force strain on his face to show for it.

Take care, may obscure astronaut Phoebe “Vomit Queen” O’Ralphord be with you, and gesundheit.

That speed record is bogus. It’s just a jet that doesn’t leave the ground. The wheels are not driven by the engines, so it’s not a car and doesn’t deserve any such record.

It’s a sloooowwww day of news when a straw bale Willie Nelson makes the front page.

Pretty sure the actual “land” speed record is 1,037 miles per hour – the speed at which a spot on the equator is rotating, and so the fastest that “land” moves (unless you want to get all galactic about it).

The armonica may have fallen out of favor due to changing musical tastes and the fact that it’s apparently hard to magnify the sound it makes, which made it ill-suited for the larger concert halls that were becoming more popular in the early 19th century. The fact that it was easier to break than most other instruments (being glass) probably didn’t help, either.

Does Dan Paulun of W. Lafayette, OH, get paid for writing this strip? I’d appreciate a guest artist as well.

That record was surpassed January 20, 2021 by Melania tRump leaving the White House.

Franklin neglected to teach anyone else how to play it.

Beth was well known for her straw-man claims.

The Speed Record one reminds me of this:

https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1995-04.html

Beth Bays of Huddleston, Virginia had way too much time on her hands.

This is for Beth Bays…BADA BOOM CHE.

That’s not even a good pun.

The armonica had a longer shelf life than the Keytar by at least 59 years

Actually, a little known fact: The constable who pulled Andy Green over for speeding, was going faster but wasn’t credited for it….

While the Armonica vanished vanished by the 1820s, Franklin vanished by 1790…

Willie would have appreciated it more if it had been made out of weed…

I saw a segment on tv a long time ago that purported that the 18th century Glass Armonica made the users sick – sometimes fatal – due to lead poisoning. Back then, the glass bowls were made of a lead base. People soon refused to play the instrument, and it disappeared from use.