1972 Evel Knieval at Custom Car Expo, Syracuse NY

Evel Knievel performed at the NY State Fairgrounds in 1972, at the Custom Car Expo.  According to evelknievel.com, here is how he got his famous moniker:

After a police chase in 1956, in which he crashed his motorcycle, Knievel was taken to jail on a charge of reckless driving.  When the night jailer came around to check roll call, he noted Robert Knievel in one cell and William Knofel in another.  Knofel was well known as “Awful Knofel” (“awful” rhyming with “Knofel”) so Knievel began to be referred to as Evel Knievel (“Evel” rhyming with “Knievel”).  He chose this misspelling because of his last name and because he didn’t want to be considered “evil”.

And thus the legend was born…