Evel Knievel: A Rare Daredevil

One of the most well known pop icons of the last century was daredevil Evel Knievel. Evel Knievel was infamous and known for risking life and limb jumping over a wide variety of items on a motorcycle. For those that grew up during the late 60’s to early 80’s, the man wearing the stars and stripes was synonymous with courage and true grit. While he succeeded in many of his stunts, his critics suggest that he became a world wide phenomenon, not because of his successes, but his incredible failures.

Born in Butte Montana, daredevil Evel Knievel was always rambunctious, rough, wild and had an eye for attention. Throughout his life, he would find ways to promote himself and his causes. One day, as he was short for cash and had a family to feed, Evel decided to become a daredevil and do incredible stunts for profit. Throughout his early years, he would attract large, local crowds and jump cars, busses and almost anything that would get a rouse out of the crowd. He hit the big time when he decided to jump the fountains at Caesar’s Palace.

Daredevil Evel Knievel’s attempt to jump the fountains at Caesar’s Palace proved his ticket to fame. While he did clear the fountains, he missed the landing ramp and tumbled wildly to a stop. He not only was knocked out, but fell into a coma that lasted about a month. However, when he came out of his coma, he was a worldwide star. Throughout the late 60’s and early 70’s, Evel Knievel traveled the world and attempted incredible stunts on his motorcycle. He attempted to jump Snake Canyon in a rocket, jumped sharks in a pool, and a wide assortment of busses and cars. Each time he jumped, the crowd was amazed and supportive. He packed in arenas all over the world to watch his incredible stunts and many TV sports shows or networks picked up his stunts for large amounts of money. Daredevil Evel Knievel became a wealthy man, however his body paid terribly for his occupation.

Daredevil Evel Knievel holds the Guinness Book of World Records for most broken bones (433) however Evel denied that he broke that many bones in his lifetime. While he did dodge death many times, he died at the age of 69 from Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Read more about this daredevil at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/

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