Motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel (1938–2007) was born Robert Craig Knievel on this day in Butte, Montana, and rose to international fame by tempting death with a showman’s flair reminiscent of P.T. Barnum.

“I’ve always lived by the creed that you’re never a failure in life when you fall, as long as you try and get up,” he said.

Knievel began touring in 1965, jumping over a pit of rattlesnakes and mountain lions. Soon the star-spangled leathers appeared, and the stunts grew. In 1973, he flew a Harley-Davidson over fifty stacked cars at the Los Angeles Coliseum before 35,000 fans.

“Anybody can jump a motorcycle,” he quipped. “The trouble begins when you try to land it.”

In 1974, he survived the highly promoted, unsuccessful three-quarter-mile leap across Idaho’s Snake River Canyon in a rocket-powered motorcycle. “I did feel bulletproof,” he admitted. “I thought I could handle a motorcycle as good as any man in the world.”

After spectacular crashes and more than thirty operations, he retired from jumping. He later battled Hepatitis C, contracted through a transfusion, and received a successful liver transplant in 1999. Looking back, he said, “No prince, no king, no president has ever lived a better life than I have.”

Through broken bones and soaring dreams, Evel Knievel embodied the courage to fly — and to rise again. His story reminds us that every leap, no matter how rough the landing, is a testament to the spirit’s unbreakable will and the courage to appreciate life.