Turn-of-the-20th-century sportswriter Robert Ripley founded and franchise that is still going strong a hundred years later. Ripley collected pictures, artifacts and documention of events so strange and bizarre that they strained credulity. The collection first appeared as a newspaper comic strip, focusing mainly on sports, but moved on to radio, theatrical shorts and TV.

In 1930, Ripley introduced a radio show that featured the odd and unexplainable throughout that decade and well into WWII. Eventually he took the show on the road, broadcasting from various locations domestically and internationally. The radio show was a big hit in the U.S. and abroad and lasted until Ripley's death in 1949.

Believe It Or Not! had already been committed to film in the 30s for various theatrical shorts. In 1949, it made its small screen debut on NBC but it was short-lived, as was its creator unfortunately. The series ended after two seasons but the concept was revived in the early 80s on ABC with actor Jack Palance as the host. After four successful seasons (and many cable reruns that came later), Ripley's Believe It Or Not! appeared as an animated series for young audiences, featuring the adventures of "Michael Ripley," the original Ripley's nephew.

Another TV incarnation came in 2000 on the cable network TBS; this time the show was hosted by Dean Cain and aired for three years before joining its predecessor on the SciFi Channel for reruns.