Can You Set a World Record?
Guinness World Records is celebrating its 70th anniversary by inviting people to set their own records.
© Courtesy of Guinness World Records
Zaila Avant-Garde holds the Guinness World Record for the most bouncing juggles in one minute with four basketballs. She captured the record when she was 13 years old.
Who has climbed Mount Everest more times than anyone else? Which team has the most NBA Championship titles? Guinness World Records has kept track of accomplishments like these for 70 years! To celebrate, Guinness is inviting people of all ages to try to set their own records.
Guinness published its first book of records in 1955 and has done so every year since. From the beginning, the records included not only people but animals and objects, too. Readers could learn about the world records for “biggest baby,” “tallest building,” and “longest beard,” to name just a few.
Today, the list of records is much longer than it was in 1955. Here are some of the amazing records you can find on the Guinness World Records website:
- Fastest man (Usain Bolt)
- Slowest mammal (the three-toed sloth)
- Most valuable necklace (worth $55 million)
- Longest hair (8 feet 5.3 inches or 257.33 centimeters)
Guinness doesn’t just want people to look at its records. It wants them to participate, too.
“I am completely of the opinion that we’re all amazing in our own way. It’s just discovering what that thing is and celebrating it,” Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday told the Associated Press. “I want to see kids in the same book as Usain Bolt.”
© Courtesy of Guinness World Records
Chad Fell holds the record for the largest bubblegum bubble blown.
That’s why Guinness chose to celebrate its anniversary by giving everyone a chance to get onto the list of records. The company has created an online quiz that helps people understand what kind of record might fit them. There’s also a list of 70 unclaimed records on the website. You, or anyone else, can try to do the most high-fives in 30 seconds, set the longest time to balance a spoon on the nose, and much more!
Glenday says Guinness will add new records to be set all the time so that more people can try for them. The rules are simple. A new record must be meaningful and interesting, and setting the record needs to require effort.
“Otherwise, [a record is] official, but it’s not amazing. And [our list has to] be officially amazing,” he says.
