A native of Butte, Montana, Robert Craig Knievel (his full name) was born October 17, 1938, passing away on November 30, 2007 at the ripe old age (for a stunt rider) of 69. Known worldwide for his ever longer motorcycle jumps, often followed by ever grander crashes and injuries, Knievel, it seems, became more famous for his spectacular crashes than for his successful jumps. First off, if you're wondering how Knievel came to be known as
Possibly his most renowned jump, or crash, was at Caesar's Palace, where he broke his pelvis, femur, hip, wrist and both ankles, and suffered a concussion.
While Evel suffered well over 30 fractures during his many crashes, he managed to survive the all, ultimately dying in Clearwater, Florida, on November 30, 2007, aged 69, as the result of diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He rests under a line of trees in Clearwater Cemetery in Butte. Nearby are the graves of his grandparents, Ignatius and Emma Brown, who raised him after his parents divorced and moved away from Butte. See a complete biography of Evel at
Evel Knievel
Evel’s first jump was in 1966 at the National Date Festival in Indio, California. From that point on, Knievel’s stunts became more ambitious and more dangerous. Some of his most memorable jumps include Caesars Palace (1967), Madison Square Garden (1971), Twin Falls, Idaho, Snake River Canyon(1975), and of course the famous Wembley Stadium jump (1975).
When USA ABC’s Wide World of Sports collated the top twenty most watched sporting moments of all time, Evel featured five times – including the top spot. In one of his first jumps for ABC’s Wide World of Sports, Knievel successfully jumped 50 stacked cars at the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of a crowd of 35,000.
This performance lead to a world record where Evel jumped 14 greyhound buses at King’s Island amusement park in Ohio in 1975, four months after a spectacular crash in the jump over 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in London, England – which remains ABC’s Wide World of Sports’ highest rated show of all time.
CAESARS PALACE
After doing his normal pre-jump show and a few warm up approaches, Knievel began his real approach. When he hit the takeoff ramp, it was perfect, the landing however was a disaster. Knievel came up short which caused the handlebars to be ripped out of his hands as he tumbled over them onto the pavement where he skidded into the Dunes parking lot. As a result of the crash, Knievel suffered a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles and a concussion that kept him in a coma for 29 days. For certain- the most famous motorcycle crash in history.
SNAKE RIVER CANYON
In 1971, while flying back to Butte from a big jump, Knievel looked out the window and saw the Snake River Canyon. After finding a location near Twin Falls, Idaho, that was both wide enough, deep enough and on private property, Knievel leased 300 acres for $35,000 to stage his jump. He set the date for September 1972...
...The launch at Snake River Canyon (42.59713°N 114.42292°W) was on September 8, 1974, at 3:36 p.m. MDT. The steam that powered the engine was superheated to a temperature of 500 °F (260 °C). Upon take-off, the drogue parachute deployed. The deployed chute caused enough drag that even though the skycycle made it part way across the canyon to the north rim, the prevailing winds caused it to drift back south, into the canyon. By the time it hit the bottom of the canyon, it landed only a few feet from the water on the same side of the canyon it had been launched from. If he had landed in the water, Knievel would have drowned due to a jumpsuit/harness which kept him strapped in the vehicle. Knievel survived the jump with only minor injuries.
WEMBLEY JUMP
After the Snake River jump, Knievel returned to motorcycle jumping with ABC Wide World of Sports televising several jumps. On May 26, 1975, in front of 90,000 people at Wembley Stadium in London, Knievel crashed while trying to land a jump over thirteen single-deck AEC Merlin buses (the term “London Buses” used in earlier publicity had led to the belief that the attempt was to be made over the higher and more traditional Routemaster double-deck type). After the crash, despite breaking his back, Knievel addressed the audience and announced his retirement. Near shock and not yielding to Frank Gifford’s (of ABC Wide World of Sports) plea to use a stretcher, Knievel walked off the Wembley field stating, “I came in walking, I went out walking!”
KINGS ISLAND JUMP
After recuperating, Knievel decided that he had spoken too soon, and that he would continue jumping. On October 25, 1975, Knievel successfully jumped fourteen Greyhound buses at the Kings Island theme park in Ohio. Although Knievel landed on the safety deck above the 14th bus (the frame of the Harley-Davidson actually broke) his landing was successful and he held the record for jumping the most buses on a Harley-Davidson for 24 years. The Kings Island event scored the highest viewer ratings in the history of ABC’s Wide World of Sports and would serve as Knievel’s longest successful jump at 163 feet. After the Kings Island jump, Knievel again announced his retirement.
SHARK JUMP
In January 1977, Knievel was scheduled for a major jump in Chicago, Illinois. The jump was inspired by the film, Jaws. Knievel was scheduled to jump a tank full of live sharks and would be televised live nationally. However, during his rehearsal, Knievel lost control of the motorcycle and crashed into a cameraman. Although Knievel broke his arms, he was more distraught over a permanent injury his accident caused to the cameraman (who lost his eye). The footage of this crash was so upsetting to Knievel, that he did not show the clip for 19 years until the documentary, Absolute Evel: The Evel Knievel Story.
After the failed shark jump, Knievel retired from major performances and limited his appearances to speaking only, rather than stunt riding, saying ” a professional is supposed to know when he has jumped far enough.”
From Evel Knievel Dot Com