Friday, November 19, 2010

Older, heavier, bigger, quicker... sillier? 200,000 people across the globe celebrate Guinness World Records Day

With more than 200,000 people taking part in a series of oddball events today you'd be forgiven for thinking they'd been on the black stuff.
But the mad-cap masses were in fact taking part in the annual Guinness World Records Day which sets out to break a series of records from the heroic to the down-right daft.
Among the more ridiculous record-breaking bids was the discovery of a maple leaf said to be the world's biggest.
Leafing through the record books: Nine-year-old Joseph Donato with the largest maple leaf, one of the records attempted as part of the Guinness World Records Day
Leafing through the record books: Nine-year-old Joseph Donato with the largest maple leaf, one of the records attempted as part of the Guinness World Records Day 


Nine-year-old Joseph Donato found the leaf measuring 13.5in across in Pickering, Ontario, Canada.
The day was first celebrated in 2003 to mark the moment when the Guinness Book of World Records itself became a record-breaker by becoming the biggest-selling copyrighted book in history.
Well over 100 million copies of the long-running compendium of superlatives have printed since the first commercial edition went on sale in 1955.
Thomas Lackey, at 90 the oldest wing-walker in town, pictured as he prepares for his special World record Day flight over Cirencester
Thomas Lackey, at 90 the oldest wing-walker in town, pictured as he prepares for his special World record Day flight over Cirencester
Today Brazilians will be staging the biggest samba dance, the French will be performing the most high kicks by a troupe of can-can dancers and Britons will be doing some of the classically droll things for which we are rightly famed as a people.
It's just a shame that the late great Roy Castle can't be here to count down the superannuated wing walkers, underwater jugglers, fire breathers and men in very heavy shoes that mark our island nation as a record-breaking force to be reckoned with.
Old women the world over will be queueing up to live in this gigantic replica of a Converse Chuck Taylor All Star. At 9 feet high and 18 feet long it's a it's a UK size 845.
Old women the world over will be queueing up to live in this gigantic replica of a Converse Chuck Taylor All Star. At 9 feet high and 18 feet long it's a it's a UK size 845.
Preacher Muad'dib , 31, broke the record for Most Torches Lit & Extinguished in One Minute(83), Most Flames Blown By Mouth in One Minute(69) , at Potters Field , London.Ashrita Furman- Heaviest Shoes Walked In ( 146.5kg ) , the man who holds the Most current Guinness World Records Held at the same Time, now 122 , at Potters Field , London.
At Potter's Field in the shadow of Tower Bridge fire-breather Muad'Dib shows off his certificate for two death-defying records while Ashrita Furman strides out with the most records held by one man (122) including the world's heaviest pair of shoes.
21 year-old Asha Rani failed to set a new Guinness World Record for the furthest distance to pull a plane with her hair today, despite an admirable effort in difficult weather conditions
21 year-old Asha Rani failed to set a new Guinness World Record for the furthest distance to pull a plane with her hair today, despite an admirable effort in difficult weather conditions

Turkey's Sultan Kosen, 27, right, the tallest man on earth according to the Guinness World Records organization with a height of 8 feet 1 inchThe world's shortest living man, Khagendra Thapa Magar, 26.4 inches tall
It wouldn't be a classic Guinness Book Of Records event without Sultan Kosen, at 8'1" the tallest man on Earth, and Khagendra Thapa Magar, at 26.4 inches tall the world's shortest.

Merlin - the Longest Time to Juggle 3 Objects Underwater ( 1min 20secs - 203 catches ) , at Potters Field , London.Nursery school boy Masato Kajiwara piles up paper cups to challenge the Guinness World Record at a fastfood restaurant in Tokyo on November 18, 2010
In London juggler Merlin broke the record for juggling underwater (1min 20secs - 203 catches) while in Tokyo 6 year old Masato Kajiwara made an 11" paper cup tower in 30 seconds for a new stacking world record.

The Americans weigh in with the world's largest collection of costumed dogs in Dunedin, Florida, where World record day happily coincided with Dunedin's annual Dogtoberfest
The Americans weigh in with the world's largest collection of costumed dogs in Dunedin, Florida, where World record day happily coincided with Dunedin's annual Dogtoberfest

Thomas Lackey completed his wing walk across Cirencester, Gloucestershire, at the record age of 90 years and five months, for Guinness World Records Day 2010.
Thomas Lackey completed his wing walk across Cirencester, Gloucestershire, at the record age of 90 years and five months, for Guinness World Records Day 2010.

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