general factbooks
TRANSCRIPT
GENERAL FACTBOOKS
GUINESS WORLD BOOK OF RECORD
is a reference book published annually,
containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world.
The book itself holds a world record, as the best-selling copyrighted book series of all time.
It is also one of the most frequently stolen books from public libraries in the United States
HISTORY
May 14, 1941 - Sir Hugh Beaver, then the managing director of the Guinness Breweries, went on a shooting party in the North Slob, by the River Slaney in County Wexford, Ireland.
He became involved in an argument over which was the fastest game bird in Europe, the koshin golden plover or the grouse. That evening atCastlebridge House, he realized that it was impossible to confirm in reference books whether or not the golden plover was Europe's fastest game bird.
o Beaver knew that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in pubs throughout Ireland, but there was no book in the world with which to settle arguments about records. He realized then that a book supplying the answers to this sort of question might prove popular.
Christopher Chataway - recommended student twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, who had been running a fact-finding agency in London.
The brothers were commissioned to compile what became The Guinness Book of Records in August 1954.
One thousand copies were printed and given away. After founding the Guinness Book of Records at 107 Fleet Street, London
the first 197-page edition was bound on 27 August 1955 and went to the top of the British bestseller lists by Christmas.
the first 197-page edition was bound on 27 August 1955 and went to the top of the British bestseller lists by Christmas.
It was a marketing give away—it wasn't supposed to be a money maker," said Beaver. The following year it was launched in the U.S., and it sold 70,000 copies.
The book became a surprise hit, many further editions were printed, eventually settling into a pattern of one revision a year, published in October to coincide with Christmas sales.
The McWhirters continued to publish it and related books for many years.
Both brothers had an encyclopedic memory—on the TV series Record Breakers, based upon the book, they would take questions posed by children in the audience on various world records and were usually able to give the correct answer.
Ross McWhirter was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1975.
Following Ross's assassination, the feature in the show where questions about records posed by children were answered was called "Norris on the Spot".
Guinness World Records Limited was formed and created in 1954 to publish the first book.
Sterling Publishing owned the rights to the Guinness book in the 1970s and under their management, the book became a household name in the USA.
In 2006, Apax Partners purchased Hit and subsequently sold Guinness World Records in early 2008 to the Jim Pattison Group, which is also the parent company of Ripley Entertainment, which is licensed to operate Guinness World Records' Attractions.
With offices in New York City and Tokyo, Guinness World Records global headquarters remain in London, while its museum attractions are based at Ripley headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
In 2006, Apax Partners purchased Hit and subsequently sold Guinness World Records in early 2008 to the Jim Pattison Group, which is also the parent company of Ripley Entertainment, which is licensed to operate Guinness World Records' Attractions.
With offices in New York City and Tokyo,
Guinness World Records global headquarters remain in London, while its museum attractions are based at Ripley headquarters in Orlando, Florida.
Each edition contains a selection of the large set of records in the Guinness database, and the criteria for that choice have changed over the years. The newest records are added, and the records that have been updated are added too.
The Guinness Book of Records is the world's most sold copyrighted book, thus earning it an entry within its own pages.
A number of spin-off books and television series have also been produced. Again the emphasis in these shows has been on spectacular, entertaining stunts, rather than any aspiration to inform or educate.
In 2005, Guinness designated 9 November as International Guinness World Records Day to encourage breaking of world records; it was described as "phenomenally successful".
The 2006 version was dubbed "the world’s biggest international event," with an estimated 100,000 people participating in over 10 countries. The promotion has earned Guinness a whopping 2,244 all-new valid records in 12 months, which is a 173% increase over the previous year.
Author(s) - Craig Glenday (ed.)
Cover artist- Simon Jones
Language(S) - English, Arabic,
Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Latvian, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Slovene, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Bulgarian
Series - Guinness World Records Subject(s) -- World Records Genre(s)- Information Publisher - Jim Pattison Group Publication date -1955–present Pages 288 (2011,2012)
287 (2010) 288 (2003–2009) 289 (2008)
ISBN 978-1-904994-67-1
RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims.
The Believe It or Not panel proved popular and was later adapted into a wide variety of formats, including radio, television, comic books, a chain of museums and a book series.
Ripley's Believe It or Not!- is a franchise
Clayton Mark's planned worker community in Northwest Indiana is included in Ripley's Believe It or Not because the cars park on the sidewalks and the streets serve as the sidewalks.
The Ripley collection includes 20,000 photographs, 30,000 artifacts and more than 100,000 cartoon panels. With 80-plus attractions,
The Orlando-based Ripley Entertainment, Inc., a division of the Jim Pattison Group, is a global company with an annual attendance of more than 12 million guests.
Ripley Entertainment's publishing and broadcast divisions oversee numerous projects, including the syndicated TV series, the newspaper cartoon panel, books, posters and games.
Ripley first called his cartoon feature, originally involving sports feats, Champs and Chumps, and it premiered on December 19, 1918, in the New York Globe.
Ripley began adding items unrelated to sports, and in October 1919, he changed the title to Believe It or Not. When the Globe folded in 1923, Ripley moved to the New York Evening Post.
That same year, Ripley hired Norbert included Lester Byck. Pearlroth as his researcher, and Pearlroth spent the next 52 years of his life in the New York Public Library, working ten hours a day and six days a week in order to find unusual facts for Ripley. Other writers and researchers
Working on the syndicated newspaper panel
Joe Campbell 1946–1956
Art Sloggatt 1917–1975
Clem Gretter 1941–1949
Carl Dorese, Bob Clarke 1943–1944
Stan Randall, Paul Frehm 1938–1978
Paul Frehm - became the full time artist in 1949)
Walter Frehm (1948–1989) Walter worked part time with his
brother Paul and became a full time Ripley artist from 1978–1989.
Paul Frehm won the National Cartoonists Society's Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1976 for his work on the series.
Bob Clarke - later created parodies of Believe It or Not! for Mad, as did Wally Wood and Ernie Kovacs, who also did a recurring satire called "Strangely Believe It!" on his TV programs.
At the peak of its popularity, the syndicated feature was read daily by about 80 million readers.
During the first three weeks of May 1932 alone, Ripley received over two million pieces of fan mail.
Dozens of paperback editions reprinting the newspaper panels have been published over the decades.
Other strips and books borrowed the Ripley design and format, such as Ralph Graczak's Our Own Oddities, Strange as it Seems by John Hix and Gordon Johnston's It Happened in Canada. Recent Ripley's Believe It or Not! books containing new material have supplemented illustrations with photographs.
Peanut Creator
Charles M. Schulz's first publication of artwork was published by Ripley. It was a cartoon claiming his dog was "a hunting dog who eats pins, tacks and razor blades." Schulz's dog Spike later became the model for Peanuts' Snoopy.
Some notable books:
Ripley's Believe It or Not (1929), reprinted in 2004
Ripley's Mammoth Book of Believe It or Not (1955)
Ripley's Giant Book of Believe It or Not (1976)
Ripley's 35th Anniversary Believe It or Not (1954)
Ripley's 50th Anniversary Believe It or Not (1968)
Ripley's Believe it or not Special edition 2012 (2011)
A series of paperback books containing annotated sketches from the newspaper feature:
Ripley's Believe It or Not 1st Series (1941)
Ripley's Believe It or Not 2nd Series (1948)
Ripley's Believe It or Not 3rd Series (1954)
Ripley's Believe It or Not 34th Series (1982)
• Ripley Entertainment produces a range of books featuring unusual facts, news stories and photographs.
In 2004 Ripley Entertainment founded Ripley Publishing Ltd, based in the United Kingdom, to publish new Believe It or Not titles.
The company produces the New York Times bestselling Ripley's Believe It or Not! Annuals.
The children’s fiction series Ripley’s RBI, an educational series called the Ripley’s Twists, the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Special Edition in conjunction with Scholastic USA and a number of other titles.
At the height of his popularity Robert Ripley received thousands of letters a day from the public, and Ripley Entertainment continues to encourage submissions from readers who have strange stories and photographs that could be featured in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! books and media.
The first Believe It or Not TV series, a live show hosted by Ripley, premiered March 1, 1949.
Shortly after the 13th episode, on May 27, 1949, Ripley died of a heart attack and several of his friends substituted as host, including future Ripley's Believe It or Not! president Doug Storer.
Robert St. John served as host from the second season until the series ended on October 5, 1950.
Ripley's Believe It or Not! aired from 1982 to 1986 on the American ABC television network.
Based on three pilots/specials conceived, produced and directed by Ron Lyon and Jack Haley, Jr. (1980–81) the series was a Haley/Lyon/Rastar production in association with Columbia Pictures. Featuring film star Jack Palance who hosted the popular series throughout its run.
The series had three different co-hosts, who appeared from season to season, initially actress Catherine Shirriff followed by Palance's daughter, Holly Palance, later singer Marie Osmond.
In 2006, the Philippines made a local adaptation of Ripley's Believe it or Not! with a local host.
ABC-5 (now known as TV5) was the first to make it with Raymond Bagatsing as host. The show however was short-lived.
In 2008, GMA Network bought the rights and revived Ripley's in the Philippines. This time Chris Tiu of the Ateneo Blue Eagles was chosen as host. It is part of the "Bilib Ka Ba? Nights" ("Do You Believe? Nights") Block of the Network which premiered August 18, 2008.