Ripley's first Odditorium opened in 1933.
The first Ripley’s Believe It or Not! opened at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. The “Odditorium” saw an astounding two million visitors. Inside were dozens of Ripley’s famous cartoons, live performers, and hundreds of strange and exotic artifacts Ripley acquired from his worldly travels.
May 8, 2026
Cartoon of the Day
The town of Kyle in Saskatchewan, Canada, faced a hiccup in the run-up to its November 2024 municipal election: no one ran for mayor.
Robert Ripley began the Believe It or Not! cartoon in 1918. Today, it continues uninterrupted as the world’s longest-running syndicated cartoon.