Kaitlyn Williams

Editor In Chief

In 1951 Sir Hugh Beaver realized there was no book that recorded all the records across the world. He quickly went to work and published the first 197 page edition of The Guinness Book of Records in 1955. It soon became a best seller and since then about 400 million copies have been sold. The next book is to be released some time this new year.  According to the Guinness World Record website they “receive over 500,000 enquiries annually from potential record breakers.”

The new 2011 book will hold many new and interesting records. “I think [The Guinness Book of Records] is pretty interesting with all of the crazy records that I would never even think of,” explained OHS freshman Brett Marshall.

Some of the new records that are to be included are things like the smallest car that was made by Perry Watkins, a British inventor. It measures 51 inches long, 41 inches high, and 26 inches wide.

The largest cup of coffee, which is standing in the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, can hold about 2,010 gallons of coffee which equals about 32,160 regular size cups of coffee.

The oldest twins in the world were recorded for living 100 years and 10 months. The sisters, Ena Pugh and Lily Millward, are both living in the United Kingdom today.

The longest domestic cat in the world is a Main Coon named Stewie that is 5 years old. From his nose to the end of his tail bone he measures 48.5 inches.

Simon Elmore from Germany fit 400 straws in his mouth. Aaron Caissie from Canada, balanced 17 spoons on his face at one time. “I think some of the things in the book are very stupid and unnecessary but can provide a lot of amusement,” said OHS senior Cosima Collyard.

Not only do interesting cats or large coffee cups make it into The Guinness Book of Records but also people who have unique characteristics do and can sometimes make you feel embarrassed for them. “I think they should be proud they made it in [The Gunniess Book of Records]. As long as the person does not care that everyone will know about their weird characteristic, they are cool to read,” said OHS senior Olivia Bordson.

Some interesting characteristics people have are people like Francisco Domingo Joaquim from Angola who has the widest mouth.  His mouth measures 6.69 inches wide.

From Nepal, Khegendra Thapa Magar is to be recorded as the shortest man in the world. This last year on his 18 birthday he was standing at 25.8 inches tall.

The worlds longest hair now belongs to Xie Quiping from China. She has been growing her hair since 1973 and it now measures to be 5.627 meters long.

Also, Mehmet Ozyurek, from Turkey, was mentioned for having the longest nose on a living person.  It measures 8.8 centimeters from the tip to the bridge of the nose.

Each year people make new records and will send them into The Guinness Book of Records to be recorded for history and 2010 was no exception. They can easily be sent by going to the main website for The Guinness Book of Records.

Although some people may think these records are very exciting others may not see the point. OHS senior Meghan Enberg explained, “ I feel like [the records] are kind of interesting but somewhat pointless.  People do many stupid things to be in [The Guinness Book of Records]  when no one really reads them anymore.”

All the records that are held in the book are very unique and interesting. They give people something fun to read about. Everything that is recorded in The Guinness Book of Records makes people believe that the impossible can be possible.