Evel Knievel

Evel Knievel was a motorcycle stuntman or more commonly known as a daredevil. He attempted a little over 75 motorcycle ramp to ramp jumps during his career. His most famous stunts include jumping over the Caesars Palace and jumping over busses in London’s Wembley Stadium, but those are just a few of his jumps. 

Robert Craig Knievel Jr., also known as Evel Knievel, was born on October 17, 1938. He was born into a copper mining town in Butte, Montana. His parents divorced while he was young leaving him with his grandparents to raise him. Knievel struggled a lot in school but excelled in track and field and hockey. He dropped out of high school and did odd jobs to earn some cash. He was then arrested for stealing hubcaps and motorcycles. He then joined the Army, and participated in paratrooping school. After the military he went to the semi pro league in hockey. Then he attempted motorcycle racing but retired early due to lots of injuries. 

In 1966 he moved to Moses Lake in Washington. He worked at a motorcycle shop and to help with business he attempted to jump his motorcycle 40 feet over a parked car and a box full of a ton of rattlesnakes with over 1,000 people watching. He landed short and fell into the rattlesnakes. The crowd went nuts for this and then Evel Knievel’s career was born. 

He started a group of motorcycle stuntmen called Evel Knievel’s Motorcycle Daredevils. They performed at a county fair and the crowd loved them. They did wheelies, went through walls of flaming plywood, and completed jumps over vehicles. After many broken bones and various injuries, he took a break to let his body heal. 

When Knievel was visiting Las Vegas he attempted the Caesars Palace jump. He made a fake promotional campaign to gain the attention of the CEO of Caesars Palace, Jay Sarno. He convinced Jay to allow him to jump the fountain at Caesars Palace. December 31, Knievel attempted the jump. He went off the first ramp with a close to perfect take off. The rear wheel of the bike caught the edge of the ramp. Knievel lost grip of the handle bars and he fell off the bike. He crushed his pelvis, femur, fractured his hips, wrist, ankles, and had a concussion. 

Knievel had many more jumps. In the later stages of his career he had lots of highs but also a lot of lows. One of these lows was that he got convicted to six months in jail for assault and battery. He then declared bankruptcy in 1981 and got divorced from his wife of 38 years but he remarried to his partner Krystal Kennedy in 1999. Knievel then died on November 30, 2007.