World Records
Thickest Tongue
Ambra Collina of Italy recently earned a Guinness World Record for having the thickest tongue.I've never seen anyone be able to thicken their tongue like she does. It's definitely not an ability I possess. No matter how hard I try, my tongue remains the same circumference. Is this some unique, bizarro talent she possesses, or are many people able to thicken their tongue?
More info: upi.com
Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 13, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Body, World Records
The youngest person to bicycle across the United States
In 1973, 11-year-old Becky Gorton bicycled from Olympia, Washington to Boston, Massachusetts in 47 days. She was accompanied by her entire family. Though her dad (who was attorney general of Washington) got hit by a car en route, so he had to complete part of the journey in a car.
Becky Gorton and her family at the end of their trip.
Longview Daily News - July 21, 1973
The feat earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest person ever to bicycle coast-to-coast. But since then Guinness seems to have stopped tracking this record. Probably because it didn't want to encourage ever younger children to attempt the feat.
However, younger people definitely have subsequently biked across the country. Though it's difficult to say who's officially the current record holder.
In 2014, 9-year-old C.J. Burford got some publicity for biking cross-country. But I don't think he set the record because in 1995 8-year-old Starr Moss was reported as having biked across the country with his 13-year-old brother.
The SF Chronicle article about their feat never mentioned that Starr set a record. So perhaps there's someone even younger who managed to do it.
If this is the same Starr Moss, he's now, appropriately, working as a "Bike Share Planner" for Lyft.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 01, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Bicycles and Other Human-powered Vehicles, World Records, 1970s
World’s Widest Wig
At what point is a wig no longer a wig?More info: upi.com
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 30, 2024 -
Comments (4)
Category: World Records, Headgear, Hair and Hairstyling
Miniature Golf Record
Page 18 of Pawtucket Times, published in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Tuesday, November 4th, 1930
Posted By: Paul - Thu May 30, 2024 -
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Category: Sports, World Records, 1930s
Sailor, the World Record Frisbee Dog
An article here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed May 29, 2024 -
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Category: Sports, Toys, World Records, Dogs, Twenty-first Century
Gilbert Young, most rejected author ever
Gilbert Young first came to the attention of the British press in the 1960s as a crusader for a single world government. He ran repeatedly for various political offices but never won an election.Below is an ad he placed in the papers seeking new members for his "World Government Party."
Bristol Daily Press - Jan 29, 1964
But his real claim to fame came in the mid 1970s when the editors of the Guinness Book of Records learned that, for years, Young had been trying to get his book published but had only received rejections from publishers. His book, World Government Crusade, had, by 1974, been rejected 80 times. So Guinness listed him in its 1975 edition as the record holder for the "greatest recorded number of publisher's rejections for a manuscript."
Bristol Daily Press - Sep 26, 1974
Guinness Book of Records 1975
For over fifteen years Guinness continued to list him as the holder of this record. Every few years it would update the number of his rejections. By 1990 his book had been rejected 242 times.
Guinness Book of Records 1991
I thought that perhaps Young's book would now be available to read or purchase somewhere on the Internet. But no, as far as I can tell it's still unavailable.
Posted By: Alex - Tue May 14, 2024 -
Comments (3)
Category: Eccentrics, Politics, World Records, Books
Harmonica Record
Obscure world record: longest time playing the harmonica while sitting in a chair balanced on top of three wine bottles. Set by Michel Perrigaud in 1959, who played for seven-and-a-half hours.
Albuquerque Journal - Jan 29, 1959
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 08, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Music, World Records, 1950s
Tibor Sarossy’s Cannonball Run
In late August of 1968, 22-year-old Tibor Sarossy set a record by riding a motorcycle from New York to Los Angeles in 45 hours, 41 minutes. He had rigged up extra fuel tanks on the back of his bike so that he only had to stop for gas four times. Also, he wore a condom connected to a hosepipe to avoid stopping for bathroom breaks.
Attempting to set a speed record for driving across the United States is known as doing a Cannonball Run. The term traces back to 1914 when Erwin Baker was nicknamed "Cannonball" by the media after he drove his motorcycle coast-to-coast in 11 days and 11 hours. That may seem slow today, but it was before modern highways and widely available gas stations. So, for the time and driving conditions, it was incredibly fast.
The current motorcycle record for a Cannonball Run is 32 hours, 27 minutes set by Felix Hofmann in October 2023.
More info: LPMCC.net
Los Angeles Times - Sep 8, 1968
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 03, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: World Records, 1960s, Motorcycles
Competitive Hymn Singing
In 1972 a group of schoolboys set a world record for "non-stop hymn singing." They sang for 48 hours straight.So what's the current record for hymn singing? I haven't been able to figure that out.
I found an article from Oct 2005 claiming a new record was set for singing for 22 hours, but since that wasn't even half the time of the 1972 record, that can't be right.
Pomona Progress Bulletin - Dec 30, 1972
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 16, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Music, World Records, 1970s
Largest Dripping Candle Known
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jun 04, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Restaurants, World Records, 1940s
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |