Robert Ripley: The Man Behind Believe It or Not

Americans sing the Star-Spangled Banner as though it were written into the nation's DNA, but the United States had no official anthem until a newspaper cartoonist pointed out the oversight in 1929. This episode explores the life of Robert Ripley, creator of the Believe It or Not empire.We trace Ripley from a teenage sports cartoonist in California to a globe-trotting media pioneer, examining how a daily comic panel helped force Congress to act and how his brand thrived on rigorous fact-checking even during the Great Depression.Publishing the first Believe It or Not panel in December 1918Crowdsourcing oddities from readers decades before the internetResearcher Norbert Pearlroth's decades verifying facts at the New York Public LibraryHis 1929 cartoon that helped make the Star-Spangled Banner the official anthem in 1931Pioneering live radio stunts and launching a TV series shortly before his death