You’ve probably heard of Guinness World Records – or the Guinness Book of World Records, as it was more commonly known until 1999.
First published in 1995, Guinness World Records is a reference book published annually, listing world records both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world.
Since then, Guinness World Records has become the world’s best-selling copyrighted book, and with each new edition, we are introduced to more bizarre and mind-boggling records, just like the ones we’ve listed for you here!
Stretchiest Skin
Garry Turner has been the proud owner of this record ever since 1999, thanks to a rare medical condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome – a connective-tissue disorder where the collagen becomes defective and includes the loosening of the skin and hypermobile joints.
This means that Mr. Turner can stretch the skin of his stomach to 6.25 inches, and doesn’t even feel any pain when he does it. The Briton is currently a sideshow performer and was a member of The Circus of Horrors in 2005.
Most Body Piercings
Some records can’t be broken because some people are born with a unique trait or physical quality that simply can’t be matched by anyone else (see Mr. Turner and has stretch skin). Other times, it’s a question of finding someone willing to put themselves through quite a bit of pain and/or adorn themselves with multiple piercings, as is the case with Elaine Davidson.
The Brazilian has a record 462 piercings on her body, including 192 piercings on her facial area and 214 piercings in her pubic area.
Most Big Mac Burgers Eaten in a Lifetime
There are McDonald’s addicts all over the world, but all of them pale in comparison to Donald Gorske of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
The 67-year-old, known as the “Big Mac enthusiast”, holds the record for most Big Macs eaten in his life, a whopping 28,788. He claims the Big Mac constitutes 90-95% of his total solid food intake and eats about 14 of these burgers each week. Interestingly, Mr. Gorske only weighs 185 pounds (he’s 6’2) and claims a cholesterol level of 140.
Largest Rubber Band Ball
For something so simple and somewhat pointless, it’s amazing how much use the average person can get out of a rubber band.
Joel Waul achieved his record after building a 9,032-pound monster rubber band ball and earning himself a spot in the Guinness World Records back in 2008. Mr. Ward used 700,000 rubber bands of all sizes to build his 6 foot, 7-inch ball he named “Megatron.”
Longest Plank Held
The plank is a position many a gym-goer and yoga practitioner will be familiar with. It’s a simple enough position – simply get into a push-up position, but rest on your forearms instead of your hands. The tricky part is holding it, as your abdominals can get taxed quickly.
That is, unless, you’re Mao Weidong of China, who held a plank for eight hours and one minute back in 2016.
Heaviest Onion
You won’t be surprised to learn that food is a category on to itself in the Guinness World Records, given that people all over the world have managed to create gargantuan-sized items, ranging from doughnuts to Doritos.
In 2014, Tony Glover of North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom earned himself a world record for growing the heaviest onion ever recorded at 18 pounds, 11.84 ounces. Can you imagine the tears you’d get from cutting that thing?
Heaviest Object Sword Swallowed
Sword swallowing is a skill in which the performer passes a sword through the mouth and down the esophagus to the stomach. Despite the name, the act can be performed with numerous objects, including, apparently, a Dewalt jackhammer.
We know this because in 2007 Thomas Blackthorne sword-swallowed a jackhammer that weighed 83 pounds and 12 ounces, holding the full weight of the hammer and bit for over three seconds. The feat earned him a world-record nod for sword-swallowing the heaviest object.
Longest Fingernails
Plenty of people have a habit of biting their nails – some do it because they’re too lazy to actually use a pair of nail clippers, others because they’re bored or stressed.
Lee Redmond clearly doesn’t have either of those problems, since she spent 30 years growing her nails out, starting all the way back in 1979! Her nails are 28 feet and four inches long if you add up the length of all the fingernails. That’s a World Record, and by some margin.
Largest Collection of Guinness Memorabilia
The largest memorabilia collection is its own category in Guinness World Records, as you’d expect. People will collect and store all manner of items, and their stockpiles can grow to be pretty impressive! For example, Louis Georgiou of the U.K. has 2,111 pieces of Transformers memorabilia!
But there’s even a record for the largest collection of Guinness World Records memorabilia! Martyn Tovey of Radstock (also in the U.K.) has 2,164 unique items.
Heaviest Weight Lifted by a Human Beard
Guinness World Records is full of data chronicling heavy lifts made by men, women, and children of all sorts of objects. But when it comes to the heaviest weight lifted by a human beard, there’s only one record, held by Antanas Kontrimas of Lithuania.
Mr. Kontrimas lifted 63.80 kg with his beard back in 2013. He’s also managed to support the weight of a human via his beard. That’s some strong hair fibers!
Loudest Burp
People can do incredible things with their bodies. Through years of dedicated training, we can see such skills on display, typically in sporting events like the Olympics. Some people train their whole lives for one dive, one gymnastic routine, one lift, or, as is the case with a Mr. Paul Hunn, one burp.
Hunn unleashed a burp of 109.9 decibels back in 2009. To put that into perspective, Hunn’s burp is louder than a large orchestra.
Longest Moustache
Sporting an epic beard or a smart mustache is all the rage nowadays, as it rightly should be. After all, ‘beard’ stands for being exceptional among regular dudes.
So while some gents prefer to inexplicably go clean-shaven, Ram Singh Chauhan from Jaipur, India went in the opposite direction, allowing his mustache to grow for over 37 years. The result was a 14ft mustache, earning him a World Record back in 2010 that still stands to this day.
Fastest Time to Eat a Bowl of Pasta
We all have someone in our life that resembles an unhinged animal rather than a human in the 21st century when they eat. But as it turns out, they could have a career as a competitive eater. Elite competitive eaters can easily make $500,000 a year between a combination of winnings and sponsorships (food for thought, eh?).
Competitive eater Michelle Lesco turned her talent for rapid eating into a world record when she scoffed down a bowl of pasta (100 grams plus sauce) in 26.69 seconds.
Most Consecutive Pinky Pull Ups
Many people around the world have had to resort to home workouts during this time of quarantine lockdowns enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic, with some achieving fantastic results. But they would have some way to go to match Tazio Gavioli can do.
The Italian holds the world record for consecutive pinky pull-ups with 36 reps. So congratulations on your one-arm pull-up, but you’ve still got some way to go to impress us, friend.
Largest Ping Pong Paddle
Are you tired of always losing to the same person in the weekly office ping pong tournament? Want a guaranteed way to win each and every future match you play? Well, just build a giant paddle!
That’s exactly what Rise Brands did in 2017 in Columbus, Ohio, building a paddle that is 11 feet, 7.8 inches tall and six feet, 7.8 inches wide. We’re pretty sure that’s not regulation size.
Most Toothpicks in a Beard
Beards aren’t just stylish facial accessories that make all men look 1000 times better. They have practical purposes too, like as a nest for birds that need rescuing, or as a handy place to store things, like tooth pics, for example.
In 2018, Joel Strasser managed to fit 3,500 toothpicks in his beard. It took three hours and 13 minutes to accomplish, but he got his name in Guinness World Records for his efforts!
