Daredevil: True Grit on Wheels

If you say the word “daredevil” one image universally comes to mind- a man wearing red, white and blue leather riding a motorcycle up a ramp to complete an incredibly dangerous stunt. Evel Knievel is the quintessential daredevil and one in which we might never see again in our lifetime.

Evel Knievel is true grit on wheels, with a showmanship that is unequaled; he exploded onto the national consciousness from humble beginnings. His stunts are legendary and while he known for his successful stunts, his failures are probably better known. In his lifetime, he is estimated to have broken over 400 bones (433 to be exact, a Guinness Record). A true daredevil, Evil Knievel is quoted as describing himself as “nothing but scar tissue and surgical steel”.

While his incredible failures cemented his persona as a true showman willing to risk his life and limb for the masses this type of individuals was exactly what the national conscious needed to occupy its time during the dark periods of the 60’s and 70’s. Evel Knievel with all his faults and failures is still considered a true daredevil performer.

For more daredevil facts about the man, the legend and his wheels, please visit Smithsonian Magazine at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/


Daredevil, Evel Knievel, Black Holes, Wrigley Field, Forbidden City

Daredevil Evel Knievel

Anyone growing up in the 60’s and 70’s fondly remembers the great Evel Knievel- perhaps the world’s finest daredevil. Evel Knievel was known for his incredible stunts that required fearlessness and courage, as well as his spectacular failures. However, know matter which stunt Evel Knievel was performing he always seemed to entertain and move the masses.

1970’s pop culture would not be the same without daredevil Evel Knievel which attempted to jump a wide range of objects including buses, sharks and even a canyon and while many times he came up short of his goal, one record he did break was the amount of broken bones he has suffered throughout his life (a total of 433 according to Guinness).

America loves daredevils, these men and women risk their lives usually for the entertainment of the crowds, but what makes these people tick and especially what made Evel Knievel risk life and limb many times during his career is quite fascinating.

For those interested in this extraordinary daredevil and his attributes of courage, fearlessness and some may say recklessness, Smithsonian Magazine has put together an incredible piece of writing regarding Evel Knievel that answers many of our questions and brings up more.

For more information regarding the man, his incredible daredevil feats and the ensuing legend he created, visit our magazine online today to read more. You can find our article on Evel Knievel at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com

forbidden city, Evel Knievel, tattoo art

Evel Knievel: A World Class Daredevil

In The Guinness Book of World Records, famous daredevil motorcycle rider Evel Knievel is honored with a top spot: he’s survived the “most broken bones in a lifetime.” And while his tally of broken bones alone (433 according to Guinness) makes Evel Knievel’s life an incredible one, it’s his dedication to his audiences that made him one of the best-loved figures in popular culture.

From the middle of the 1960’s to the early 1980’s Evel Knievel entertained --and shocked and frightened-- audiences by putting his life at risk again and again. A true daredevil, Evel Knievel broke records (and many of his famous bones) jumping over boxes of snakes, stacks of cars, and long lines of Greyhound buses. And sometimes --much more often than you’d think he’d survive-- he just didn’t… quite… make it… across.

The History of a Daredevil
But what made Evel Knievel into the no-respect-for-his-own-life daredevil he would one day become? Some of it may come from a dark-and-difficult time as a young adult. After dropping out of high school in his hometown of Butte Montana, a boy named Robert Craig Knievel ended up in jail for petty crime-- he just couldn’t keep out of trouble.

Funnily enough, it was jail that gave him the nickname Evel Knievel; the warden, trying to be clever, one day dubbed him “Evil Knievel.” And Knievel must have liked the name, because he kept it. In 1965, under the name Evel Knievel, he began to do stunt motorcycle riding for no more than peanuts. Early on, one of his most popular daredevil stunts was to hop his motorcycle 20 feet over a crate of rattlesnakes. Evel Knievel found true fame in 1968 when he attempted to jump over the fountain in front of the Ceasar’s Palace Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, injuring himself badly.

More than just a daredevil, Evel Knievel is also considered to be something of an ambassador for the motorcycle. At a time when riding motorcycles was frowned upon, Knievel brought public attention --and admiration-- to the powerful, rebellious two-wheeler. Today, the sport that Knievel began --riding an old Harley that would be considered a “dinosaur” today-- has expanded into one of the most popular in the world.

Evel Knievel survived all of his adventures, only to go on to die of pulmonary disease at age 69. For almost 20 years the daredevil showman amazed audiences and put his life in constant danger for the love of a show. To read more about Evel Knievel and what made him the legend he became, visit the Smithsonian Magazine website at the following link: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/