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No one who lived through the 1970s could forget the name Evel Knievel,
the ultimate thrill seeker who became rich and famous performing
dangerous and virtually impossible feats on a motorcycle. Born in
Butte, Montana in 1939, Knievel dropped out of high school and worked
a dozen different jobs before finding his true calling as a motorcycle
daredevil. In 1965 he made his first jump, flying over a caged mountain
lion and boxes of rattlesnakes at Moses Lake, Washington. Within
a few years he hit the big time: leaping over the fountains at Caesar’s
Palace and jumping 50 cars at the L.A. Coliseum. Though he broke
nearly every bone in his body as a result of his numerous crash
landings, Knievel’s feats were always bigger, better, and more
dangerous than the last; as he liked to say, "Where there’s
little risk, there’s little reward."
Banned by the government from attempting a leap over the Grand
Canyon, Knievel set his sights on the Snake River Canyon in southern
Idaho, even leasing the land so no one could stop him, then building
a massive ramp and working out the details of his custom-made, rocket-powered
Harley-Davidson X-2 Skycycle. On September 8, 1974, some 30,000
people turned out, along with many millions more watching on TV,
for Evel’s big leap. Unfortunately, one of his parachutes deployed
on takeoff, and he floated gently down into the bottom of the gorge,
safe and sound, and proud of having the guts to try—even if
he didn’t quite make it.
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