Champion Chicken Picker Ernest Hausen

Ernie Hausen, of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, had one great talent. He could pick the feathers off of chickens really, really fast.

When he started picking chickens, in 1904, it took him a full half hour to defeather one. Since he was paid 5 cents per chicken, he wasn't making much money. Over the years he sped up. By 1922, he won a Chicken Picking Championship by picking his chicken clean in 6 seconds. He topped this in 1939, upping his time to 3.5 seconds. As far as I know, that record stands to this day.

His technique:


More info: Hoard Museum

Wisconsin State Journal - Jan 2, 1946

Appleton Post-Crescent - Jul 28, 1936

McAllen Monitor - Oct 28, 1946

Posted By: Alex - Fri Sep 27, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Farming, Human Marvels, World Records

Vasectomy World Record

As far as I can tell, the world record for the most voluntary vasectomies performed in a single day (and at a single event) was set on December 5, 1987 in Bangkok, when 1214 men received the operation. This beat the previous record of 1202, set in 1983.

Interesting how the article specifies these were voluntary vasectomies. Is there a separate record for involuntary ones?

Anyway, 'most vasectomies' appears to be a category that Guinness doesn't bother to cover.

Des Moines Register - Dec 6, 1987

Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 19, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: World Records, Surgery

Thirteen Daughters, Then a Boy

I wonder if this 1953 record has ever been broken?

Story here.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 23, 2019 - Comments (2)
Category: Family, Children, World Records, 1950s

Avengers: Endgame, 200 times

Back in April, I posted about a guy who had set a world record for “most cinema productions attended - same film.” Specifically, he had watched Captain Marvel in a movie theater 116 times.

Since Marvel films have, for some reason, inspired these super-fan stunts, I speculated that the then imminent release of Avengers: Endgame would lead to a new attempt at a record. And sure enough, Agustin Alanis of Riverview, Florida is going for it. I believe he's already set a new record, but since Avengers: Endgame is still in theaters, he's still watching it, and is shooting for a total of 200 viewings. This is especially impressive since the movie clocks in at around 3 hours.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 23, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: Movies, World Records

World record for most severed hands reattached in one week

As far as I can tell, their claim to this record remains unchallenged.

Palm Beach Post - Nov 1, 1997

Posted By: Alex - Sun May 26, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: World Records, Surgery, 1990s

Shortest Commercial Flight

Odd Trivia: The shortest scheduled commercial flight in the world takes a mere 90 seconds. It's the Loganair flight between the Scottish islands of Westray and Papa Westray. From cntraveler.com:

Posted By: Alex - Sat May 11, 2019 - Comments (2)
Category: World Records, Air Travel and Airlines

Captain Marvel, 116 times

It’s not official yet, but Steve Ruppel appears to have gained the Guinness world record for “most cinema productions attended - same film.” Put more clearly, that’s the record for watching the same film, again and again, in a cinema. Ruppel has watched Captain Marvel 116 times since its release on March 7.

Ruppel said that when he first heard Guinness kept such a category "I thought it was the most insane thing ever, I thought it was impossible. I wasn't even sure why it was even a record, but I thought after a while, 'I should probably do that.'" I like how his thought process progressed from 'it's insane' to "I should do that."

The previous (and officially still current) holder of this record was Anthony ‘Nem’ Mitchell who watched Avengers: Infinity War 103 times when it came out in 2018. With Avengers: Endgame coming out this weekend, I wonder if Mitchell will take the opportunity to regain his title.

More details: wsaw.com

Steve Ruppel (via syfy.com)

Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 25, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Movies, World Records

Most eye tests performed in 8 hours

While at the eye doctor yesterday for a routine check-up, I noticed a plaque on the wall of the lobby. It was the word 'Guinness' that happened to catch my eye, and looking closer I realized it was a certificate from Guinness World Records recognizing the ophthalmology department I was in for performing the most eye tests in an 8-hour period: a total of 1,109 tests!

I hadn't known that speed eye testing was a thing.

However, some googling reveals that their record has subsequently been shattered. The Guinness website lists the current record holder as "V Senthilbalaji" of Karur, India, which performed 25,355 eye tests in 8 hours on April 4, 2015. (I'm assuming V Senthilbalaji must be the name of a hospital).

But what are the rules for gaining this record? Is there no limit on how many doctors can participate? In which case, speed isn't as important as just collecting a whole bunch of eye doctors in one place. And what exactly counts as an 'eye test'?

(My apologies for the lousy quality of the picture below. I'm blaming it on my phone's lousy camera. Or maybe I just need my eyes checked...)

Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 23, 2019 - Comments (1)
Category: World Records

Least Successful Author

William A. Gold of Australia had the dubious distinction of being named the least successful writer ever in the 1975 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. To my knowledge, Guinness never awarded this record to anyone else.

Gold gained the title because, as of 1975, he had written at least eight novels and 100 short stories, but none of them had been published, despite his best efforts. His writing had only ever earned him 50 cents from an article published in the Canberra News.

I've only been able to find the titles of two of Gold's book. One of them was John Lewis Seeks a Mission, which he submitted to the Adelaide Advertiser $2000 Literary Competition in 1966. (Obviously, he didn't win.) The other was One Best Seller: A Satire on the Publishing Game. The Sydney Morning Herald described this as dealing with "the adventures of author Eric Bellamy, literary agent Lawrence Templeton, and the latter’s attempts to get Bellamy’s novel, Sibelius on Sunday, published." Gold eventually self-published this novel in 1984. (and it's available for purchase from some used book stores in Australia.)

Gold died in 2001, and his collected papers are now stored at the National Library of Australia.

"23-7-87. Mr. Bill Gold, the world's greatest unpublished author, with his own published book, "One Best Seller." No one wants the book." (Getty Images)

"23-7-87. I'm broke, give me ten dollars for two books. This was Mr. Bill Gold as he makes dinner in his small flat in Queanbeyan. He is the world's greatest unpublished author." (Getty Images)

The Montreal Gazette - Feb 9, 1979

Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 05, 2019 - Comments (2)
Category: Literature, Books, World Records, 1970s

The woman who counted to one million

The great claim to fame of Marva Drew of Waterloo, Iowa was that she typed the numbers one to one million on a manual typewriter. It took her about six years, starting in 1968 and ending in 1974 (although she took several years off in the middle). It totaled 2,473 pages.

She explained that she got the idea when she heard that her son’s high school teacher had told him that no one had ever counted to a million, and that anyone who tried would be crazy. So Marva decided she’d do it.

She noted that if someone started at the age of 18, they could conceivably type up to 50 million in their entire life.

Some other info from the Waterloo Courier:

Marva Drew poses with the stack of completed pages.

Update: I just recalled that we have another story on WU about someone counting up to one million. It's the case of Henry Parish of Meddybemps, Maine who counted a million peas in one month, back in 1922.

The first and last pages typed.

Waterloo Courier - Dec 5, 1974

Posted By: Alex - Mon Feb 04, 2019 - Comments (4)
Category: Eccentrics, World Records, 1970s