Most continuous time on commercial flights

In 1978, Thomas Crowder set a record for "time spent aboard commercial planes" by traveling back and forth between 91 U.S. cities for 21 days. He never spent more than three hours on layovers between flights.

As far as I can tell, Guinness never recognized this record. Nor can I find evidence that anyone has ever tried to top it.

I know that Guinness tries not to track records that encourage unhealthy or life-endangering acts. So maybe Crowder's record fell foul of this policy. Because spending 21 days sitting on commercial flights seems like a great way to develop deep vein thrombosis.

The Alexandria Town Talk - Oct 27, 1978

Mattoon Journal Gazette - Nov 2, 1978

Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 16, 2016 - Comments (7)
Category: World Records, Air Travel and Airlines, 1970s

Attempts record for fasting

Raymond Tac begins attempt to set world record for fasting

February 1931: Fifty days into a fasting contest, Alf Wilson, of England, had to withdraw from the contest on the advice of his doctor. This left Raymond Tac, of New Zealand, the winner.

However, Tac was eager to keep fasting. So soon after he launched into an attempt to break his personal record of going ninety days and four hours without food — which apparently, at the time, was also a world record.

Tac sealed himself behind a glass wall, through which spectators could view him, having announced that he would live for over three months with mineral water and cigarettes as his only nourishment.

Unfortunately I don't know if Tac succeeded in his attempt to break his record. I haven't been able to find any reports about it. In fact, it's difficult to know what the world record for fasting is since Guinness doesn't maintain an official record for that activity, and there's a number of different claims to the title.

Reno Gazette Journal - Feb 18, 1931

Manitowoc Herald Times - Mar 3, 1931

Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 06, 2016 - Comments (1)
Category: Food, World Records, 1930s

Nude Birdwatching World Record

In Boobies, Peckers, and Tits Olaf Danielson documents his quest to obtain the world record for nude birdwatching. He managed to see 594 North American species in one year, while in his birthday suit.

It doesn't seem that there was a world record for this activity before Danielson decided to obtain it. So he had to invent his own official rules, which include the following.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Sep 21, 2016 - Comments (2)
Category: Hobbies and DIY, World Records

Most items kicked off people’s heads

23-year-old Silvana Shamuon recently established a new Guinness world record in the category of "Most items kicked off people's heads in one minute."

She kicked 59 American footballs off people's heads.

According to the rules, her foot had to touch the floor between each kick, and the people with the footballs on their heads had to have a minimum height of 5' 4.1". And they couldn't be bending their knees too much to lower their height.

Shamuon beat the previous record of 57 items (plastic cones) established by Gaurav Goley last year.

As I watch the video I'm pretty sure that Shamuon got in a few good kicks direct to people's heads (which moved their head enough to cause the ball to fall). Also, it seems to me that some of the footballs fell before Shamuon even raised her leg. I don't know if those got included in the final count.

More info: Guinness World Records

Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 06, 2016 - Comments (2)
Category: World Records

50 guys in one bed

May 15, 1964: the students of Wakefield College in England attempted to set a record for the most people piled in one bed. They were hoping to make it to 50, but when they got to around 47 things started to go wrong. Frazer Cartwright, who was on the bottom, gasped, "Get off... quick... I'm..." Then blood began gushing from his nose, and he passed out. Luckily the audience intervened before he wound up dead. Cartwright vowed never to repeat that experience again.





Sources: The Terre Haute Tribune - May 16, 1964; Tuscaloosa News - May 15, 1964.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 27, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Fads, World Records, 1960s

Teddy Bears Remote Picnic

14-year-old Emma Welch recently set a world record for the "largest teddy bears’ picnic on a mountain summit." She arranged the transport of 135 tedddy bears to the summit of Mount Snowdon in North Wales. All done for a good cause, to help raise money for brain tumor research.

But the reason she had to narrow her world record attempt down to a specific location is because the world record for largest teddy bears' picnic (anywhere) is pretty competitive. The record seems to have been held since 1995 by the Dublin Zoo, for a picnic with 33,573 bears in attendance. That set the bar pretty high, and people have been trying (and failing) to beat it ever since.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 03, 2015 - Comments (2)
Category: World Records

World’s Largest Cuckoo Clock Contender

Sugarcreek, Ohio has what they claim is the world's largest cuckoo clock. In fact it had been on display at a couple of different venues for many years. It is quite a lovely and charming tourist attraction.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 20, 2015 - Comments (2)
Category: Art, Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Puppets and Automatons, World Records, Landmarks, Sightseeing

Competitive Bridal Bouquet Catching

Apparently there's a Guinness World Record for catching bridal bouquets, and Jamie Jackson of Utah has submitted documentation to back up her claim that she's the new world record holder. She's caught 46 bouquets since 1996. The previous record was 11. She says that this is "her sport," and that to catch a bouquet requires strategy and planning. [6abc.com]

Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 17, 2015 - Comments (4)
Category: Weddings and Marriage, World Records

The Guinness Artist

David Gilhooley is known as the Guinness Artist, because he occasionally uses Guinness beer to paint watercolors. But he now has a second reason for the name after winning the Guinness World Record for most pencil portraits drawn in 12 hours. He sketched 200 of them.

By my calculations, that means he had to complete approximately one sketch every three and-a-half minutes. [Huddersfield Examiner]

Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 08, 2014 - Comments (5)
Category: Art, World Records

If

Telly Savalas always seemed like an unlikely pop star. And yet, as Wikipedia notes, his version of "If" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in March 1975, and retains the record for being "the shortest title of any song to reach number one in the UK."



The parody version:

Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 09, 2014 - Comments (5)
Category: Music, World Records, 1970s