CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Robert Ripley had an eye for star-quality oddities and built an empire that crossed just about all media platforms.
If his name does not resonate, think "Ripley's Believe It or Not." And if it still unfamiliar, think of a snake 55 feet long, a man nearly 9 feet tall, a calf with two heads and a brand that is still going strong after 98 years.
He was said to have visited 55 countries, essentially sifting the entire world for every oddity and anomaly he could find.
And it all originated with a comic strip that blossomed into permanent and temporary exhibitions, movies, television and radio.
He was doing something akin to "The Guinness Book of World Records" before it even existed (1955) and well before some cable channels morphed into the carnival sideshows in everyone's living room.
The latest incarnation is "The Science behind Ripley's Believe it or Not," fittingly a 6,000-square-foot exhibition at the Great Lakes Science Center from Jan. 30 through April 24.
It is divided into six exhibition zones: Extreme Biology, The Wonderful World of Ripley, Weird World, Cultural Practices, Gallery of the Unexpected and Perceptions & Illusions.
The premise is that science can explain everything.
Everything on display is interesting, but not always in need of a scientific explanation. This includes a 1907 Rolls Royce replica about a third smaller than the real one -- made entirely of matchsticks that were bonded together with eight gallons of glue.
Here's one oddity that might not rise to the level of a Ripley discovery, but still bears mention:
Ripley's material was a component of the Great Lakes Exposition, which ran from 1936 to 1937 in Cleveland. And the material now will be back on the lakefront land the expo occupied, which also coincided with the last time the GOP had a national convention here.
One more: Guinness World Records is now a brand in the tent of Florida-based Ripley Entertainment Inc., which boasts "95 attractions in 10 countries world wide."