Growing up, I loved reading “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not”. My parents gave me an oversized copy of the book one year for Christmas, and 30 years later, it is still with me – cover ripped off, pages forever yellowed and dog-eared, but still readable and filled with hours of enjoyment. Part of the reasons I have this blog is due to Robert M. Ripley. I’m a lover of trivia of all sorts.
Some of my favorite stories from Ripley were acts of superhuman strength and willpower that he would put into his stories. People who would swim across a river dressed in full armor or carry a dying horse across the Alps. They were the fabric of legends and I couldn’t get enough of them. Here – with full dedication to Mr. Ripley – are five acts of Superhuman Strength.
Gustav Rehard (Lyons, France; 1793)
In a local tavern, Gustav Rehard, a French gang leader, picked up a billiard table, upon which two of his men were fighting with knives, and carried the heavy slate piece of furniture – with fighting ruffians – twenty feet!
Frank Richards (Los Angeles, CA; 1920s)
This circus strongman would allow a twelve foot cannon shoot a 102 pound ball directly into his stomach at close range. He was in competition from other strongmen who kept stealing his act – of which men would try to attack him with sledgehammers and 2×4s!
Alexander “Samson” Zass (Vilno, Russia; 1924)
Standing at only 5’5” tall, Zass was a Russian strongman who could bend steel bars with his bare hands, break steel chains, and carry a horse on his shoulders. His most famous act was to have a cannon ball or a girl fired out of a cannon directly at him and he would catch the projectile in mid-air (over 2000 pounds of impact). Zass also created his own exercise system and independently discovered isometric exercises.
Louis Cyr (Montreal, Canada; 1891)
Once recognized as the strongest man alive, Louis Cyr was noted for withstanding the pull of four draft horses attached to his wrists and pulling different directions. At the age of 18 Cyr lifted a ¾ ton horse over his head. Perhaps his greatest feat occurred in 1895, when he was reported to have lifted 4,337 pounds (1,967 kg) on his back in Boston by putting 18 men on a platform and lifting them.
Paul Anderson (Toccoa,GA; 1957)
Olympic champion Paul Anderson back lifted 6,270 pounds of weight which consisted of auto parts and a safe full of lead – and walked with it! This was recorded as the most weight ever lifted by a human being. This is about the weight of a standard SUV or the total weight of the roof of your house!
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