Norbert Pearlroth (1896-1983) spent most of his life in the New York Public Library. Born in Tarnow, Austria, he went to the university in Kraków, planning to become a lawyer, but events of World War I took him away from his studies. New York Public Library, central block, built 1897–1911, Carrère and Hastings, architects (June 2003) The New York Public Library (NYPL), one of three public library systems serving New York City, is one of the leading libraries in the United States. ... Motto: none Voivodship Lesser Poland Municipal government Rada Miejska Tarnów Mayor Mieczysław Bień Area 72,4 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 121 300 - 1675/km² Founded City rights - 1330 Latitude Longitude 50°02 N 21°00 E Area code +48 14 Car plates KT Twin towns - Municipal Website Tarnów is... Motto: none Voivodship Lesser Poland Municipal government Rada miasta Kraków Mayor Jacek Majchrowski Area 326,8 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 757,500 (2004 est. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ...

Pearlroth came to America in 1920. Working in a New York bank in 1923, he learned from a friend that Robert L. Ripley was looking for a linguist. Ripley needed someone capable of researching foreign newspapers to locate material for his syndicated Believe It or Not! panel. Ripleys Believe It or Not! deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that it is often hard to believe that they actually exist, but they do. ... Ripleys Believe It or Not! deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that it is often hard to believe that they actually exist, but they do. ...

Since Pearlroth knew 11 languages, he was hired to do Ripley's research and soon did the picture research as well. He usually worked ten hours a day, six days a week in the Library's Main Reading Room. It was estimated by the New York Public Library that Pearlroth examined some 7000 books every year, meaning that he researched in more than 350,000 books during decades of work on Believe It or Not!.

Married for more than half a century, Pearlroth and his wife lived in Brooklyn at Newkirk Avenue and East 16th Street. For 52 years, he took the subway into Manhattan in the morning and worked at his office until noon, answering some of the 3000 letters that arrived each week from readers all over the world. Instead of having lunch, he then went to the Library where he worked through the afternoon and evening, taking half an hour for dinner. When the library closed at 10pm, he headed back to Brooklyn. He sometimes worked on Sundays if he fell behind in locating what he called "believe-it-or-nots." His deadline was on Friday, and he always worked several weeks in advance. The Brooklyn Bridge in 1890, seven years after its opening Kings County in New York State Brooklyn is the most populous of the five boroughs of New York City. ... Manhattan is an island bordering the lower Hudson River. ...

By the 1940s, Pearlroth and Ripley had some 80 million readers worldwide. During the first 26 years, Pearlroth simply gave Ripley whatever his research had turned up. After Ripley's death on May 27, 1949, King Features Syndicate took over Believe It or Not!, and Pearlroth continued for the next 26 years to work for syndicate editors, who required him to submit exactly 24 items each week. Pearlroth usually worked anonymously, but on Ripley's Believe It or Not! 50th Anniversary Edition (Pocket Books, 1968), he is credited as "Research Director." King Features Syndicate is a syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation; it distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to thousands of newspapers around the world. ...

For 25 years, Pearlroth also wrote a weekly column, "Your Name," about the origins of Jewish surnames, for the Jewish Post. In the Bronx, his son, Arthur Pearlroth, was the Economic Development Counsel for the South Bronx Development Office. The Bronx is one of the five boroughs of United States. ...

Although Norbert Pearlroth never missed a deadline, King Features replaced him in 1975, forcing his retirement at age 79. As a freelancer, he received no pension and no royalties from the many collections and reprints sold in the millions.