Topic: Evel Knievel

Robert Craig Knievel (October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007), better known as the Evel Knievel (pronounced /ˈiːvəl kɨˈniːvəl/;), was an American motorcycle daredevil and entertainer famous in the United States and elsewhere between the late 1960s and early 1980s. Knievel's nationally televised motorcycle jumps, including his 1974 attempt to jump Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls, Idaho, represent four of the twenty most-watched ABC's Wide World of Sports events to date. His achievements and failures, including his record 37 broken bones, earned him several entries in the Guinness Book of World Records.

His son Robbie Knievel is also an accomplished motorcycle daredevil.

Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel was born in Butte, Montana, in 1938, the first of two children born to Robert E. and Ann Kehoe "Zippy" Knievel. His surname is of German origin; his great-great-grandparents on his father's side emigrated to the United States from Germany. Robert and Ann divorced in 1940, after the birth of their second child, Nic. Both parents decided to leave Butte. Evel was raised by paternal grandparents, Ignatius and Emma Knievel. At the age of eight, Robert Knievel attended a Joey Chitwood Auto Daredevil Show, to which he gave credit for his later career choice to become a motorcycle daredevil. Almost every jump he did was on a Harley Davidson motorcycle.