World record attempts are associated with extreme, weird and wonderful acts of both humans and the natural world.
Guinness World Records is the globally recognized official awarding body of any world record attempt.
It was first published in 1955, following a dispute over the fastest game bird for shooting.
Guinness World Records was the first and only of its kind to measure and document incredible and dare devilish acts of humankind.
Here are 21 weird and wonderful world records that you didn’t know existed.
A family in Mexico has 98% of their bodies covered in hair.
Some people are hairier than others, but there is one family that tops them all.
The Gomez family that live in Mexico was awarded the Guinness World Record for the largest hairy family.
Four family members have around 98% of their bodies covered in hair and were awarded the record on February 1, 2000.
The family has a total of 19 members spanning five generations that all suffer from the rare condition of Congenital Generalized Hypertrichosis (CGH).
CGH is where the face and torso grow a considerable amount of hair.
The females grow light to medium thickness hair while the male has thick hair across their bodies.
All members of the family have allowed scientists to analyze their genes to find out what is responsible for CGH.
David Rush can fit 100 lit candles in his mouth.
It might not be your first thought when lighting a candle, but for David Rush, putting a lit candle in his mouth has led to great things.
On April 20, 2019, at a TEDx talk in Boise, Idaho, USA, Rush broke a new world record.
He managed to hold and light 100 candles simultaneously in his mouth.
The longest fingernail of all time is over six feet long.
There are multiple records for longest fingernails, and records are held by both men and women.
Some records measure the longest nails across two hands, some across a singular hand, but only one record for the longest singular nail.
Shridhar Chillal is the proud grower of the world’s longest fingernail, with a thumbnail measuring the total length of 6 ft 4 in (197.8 cm).
If you want to see the nail, it is on display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in Times Square, New York, USA.
The loudest female burp is almost deafening.
Burping is a natural human action, and it is sometimes considered a sign of a good meal.
On June 16, 2009, Elisa Cagnoni produced the world’s loudest female burp, with a total of 107.0 dB.
That is similar to hearing a jackhammer from a distance of 3 ft 3 in (1 meter).
Every year in Reggiolo, Italy, there is an event at the Hardrock Beer festival called “Ruttosound.”
The event hosts a burp competition to raise money for charity.
A cat can balance ten dice on its paw.
Bibi is a domestic short-haired cat with many talents, one of which is balancing dice.
This cool cat lives with his owner, Siew Lianchui, in Malaysia.
On June 18, 2017, Bibi managed to have ten dice stacked on his paw without moving.
The furthest distance to squirt milk from an eye socket was 9′ 2″.
Eye squirting is more common than you think; you just have to try it.
On September 1, 2004, Ilker Yilmaz became a champion.
At the Armada Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey, Yilmaz managed to squirt milk from his eye socket a great distance of 9 ft 2 in (279.5 cm).
Sixty-six people crammed onto a 42-foot long surfboard.
Surfing is regarded as a one-person sport, where adrenaline seekers paddle out into the ocean searching for the biggest wave.
But on June 20, 2015, at Huntington Beach, California, USA, 66 people crammed onto one surfboard to break a new record.
The previous record was for 47 people on one board.
Firstly, you might be wondering, “how does everyone fit onto one board?”
Well, a custom-made board with a length of 42 ft (12.8 meters) was designed for the attempt.
The record was awarded to Visit Huntington Beach and the Epic Big Board Ride.
Anne Woods holds the record for most “gurning” world championship wins.
Gurning is a British term for pulling a face in a certain way, and in the UK, they host the gurning world championships.
The Egremont Crab Fair, held in Cumbria, UK, has been hosted annually since 1267, making it one of the world’s oldest fairs.
Anne Woods holds the Guinness World Record for having the most wins (female) at the Egremont Crab Fair.
She has won a total of 27 competitions for the most gurning between 1977 and 2010.
Woods was awarded the Guinness World Record on September 18, 2010.
Gary Turner has the world’s stretchiest skin!
A British man named Garry Turner has a world record for the Stretchiest skin due to a disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a condition where there is a problem with the tissue that connects skin, ligaments, and organs.
The collagen in the skin is affected, meaning that the skin can become incredibly stretchy.
This means that Turner is able to stretch his stomach skin 6.25 in (15.8 cm) away from his body.
Turner won the record on October 29, 1999, in Los Angeles, California, USA.
The longest metal coil passed through the nose is nearly 12 feet long.
Las Vegas show performer Andrew Stanton broke a Guinness World Record on March 31, 2012.
The record was for the longest metal coil passed through the nose and out the mouth.
Stanton managed to pass a piece of metal measuring 11′ 10″ (363 cm) through his nose.
The record was achieved on the set for “Lo Show Dei Record” in Rome, Italy.
The world’s largest pizza had an area of 13,580.28 ft².
There have been many world record attempts associated with creating giant versions of our favorite foods.
But nothing is quite as remarkable as the world’s largest pizza!
Created in Italy on December 13, 2012, the world’s largest pizza measured an incredible 13,580.28 ft² (1,261.65 m²).
The goliath of a pizza was named “Ottavia” as an homage to the first Roman Emperor, Octavian Augustus.
The pizza was made at Fiera Roma, in Rome, Italy, by Dovilio Nardi, Andrea Mannocchi, Marco Nardi, Matteo Nardi and Matteo Giannotte.
The pizza was entirely gluten-free.
Kim Goodman can pop her eyeballs 12 mm from their sockets.
Kim Goodman from the USA has the ability to pop her eyeballs out from her face.
Goodman discovered she could pop her eyes from her skull after being hit in the head by a hockey mask.
“Proptosis” is the term for the ability to pop your eyes from your head.
On November 2, 2007, in Istanbul, Turkey, Goodman popped her eyes 0.47 in (12 mm) from her eye sockets and broke a new world record.
The record was measured by an optometrist, using an optometer a total of three times to get an average distance.
The world’s longest-lasting kiss took over 58 hours.
Over three days, the world’s longest kiss took place to mark the sharing of love on Valentine’s Day.
The kiss took place February 12-14, 2013, and lasted for 58 hours, 35 minutes, and 58 seconds.
Ekkachai Tiranarat and Laksana Tiranarat from Thailand were the loving couple to win the world record.
Not only did they win a Guinness World Record, but the annual competition offered a cash prize and two diamond rings to the winning couple.
The largest object removed from a human skull was a drill bit.
On August 15, 2003, Ron Hunt was awarded a Guinness World Record for surviving a near-fatal accident.
Hunt fell off a ladder while using a drill.
He landed on the still spinning drill bit that was 18 inches (46 cm) in length.
Not only did he land on it, but he landed on his face, with the drill bit being forced through his right eye and finally through his skull just above his right ear.
After being admitted to Washoe Medical Center in Nevada, USA, surgeons found that the drill bit had pushed past his brain.
He would have died if the drill bit had penetrated his brain.
Ruan Liangming endured being covered in around 637,000 bees.
On May 15, 2014, in Fengxin County, Yichun City, Jiangxi Province, China, Ruan Liangming broke a world record for enduring the world’s largest mantle of bees.
There was an estimated total of 637,000 bees, including around 60 queen bees weighing a total of 140 lb 6.95 oz (63.7 kg).
The record was attempted during the filming of both the CCTV-Guinness World Records Special and Lo Show Dei Record.
The heaviest weight lifted by tongue was the same as a three-year-old.
It is said that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body, but have you ever tested it?
Thomas Blackthorne from the UK has, and he has even won a world record for the strength of his tongue.
On August 1, 2008, at El Show Olímpico, in Mexico City, Mexico, Blackthorne lifted an incredible 27 lb 8.96 oz (12.5 kg) with his tongue.
However, this wasn’t his first record attempt; Blackthorne has been working to break the record since his first attempt in 2004.
A parrot can open 35 canned drinks in one minute.
The animal world has some incredibly talented creatures and some that we can even train.
One of these celebrity animals is Zac the Macaw.
Zac managed to break a Guinness World Record by opening 35 canned drinks in one minute.
The record was broken in San Jose, California, USA, on January 12, 2012.
The world’s fastest bathtub reached an average speed of 116.08 miles per hour.
Bathtubs are designed to relax and soak after a hard day’s work, but they can be used for much more.
Swiss engineer Hannes Roth decided he wanted to turn a bathtub into a racing car.
Being a racing driver himself, he knew what it would take, so he spent 300 hours modifying a bathtub for a world record attempt.
Roth fixed a bathtub to a go-kart chassis and attached a four-cylinder Yamaha engine as well as essential bathtub extras like a showerhead.
After many test runs, Roth took the motorized tub to Dynamic Test Center in Vauffelin, Switzerland, for the world record attempt.
On May 6, 2016, the bathtub reached an average speed of 116.08 mph (186.82 km/h) with the highest speed of 118 mph (189.9 km/h).
412 people simultaneously washed their dishes.
Washing the dishes is often seen as a chore, but it was a fun activity for this group.
On June 16, 2017, 412 people gathered in Algiers, Algeria, to break a record for most people washing dishes simultaneously.
The record went to Henkel (Algeria) and Pril-Isis.
The greatest distance catching a grape in the mouth was over 350 feet.
On September 7, 2009, Paul E. Lyday managed to catch a grape in his mouth at a distance of 354 ft 4 in (108 meters).
He broke the record for the greatest distance at ground level that a grape has been thrown and caught in the mouth.
The record was achieved in Fort Motte, South Carolina, USA.
Freddy Nock walked along the highest cable car wire!
Freddy Nock holds the Guinness World Record for his daredevil skills.
On January 29, 2011, Nock walked 1,876 ft 7 in (572 meters) along with a cable car at Silvaplana ski resort, St. Moritz, Switzerland.
The cable car is 10,836 ft 7 in (3,303 meters) above sea level.
He initially set out to beat his previous record of longest cable car walk, but he had to stop due to terrible weather conditions, meaning he broke only the height record.
The weather was so bad that the average temperature was 5 °F (-15 °C).
Over 50 years on, Guinness World Records are continuously finding new weird and wonderful talents and mysteries to keep us entertained.
So now you know 21 weird and wonderful Guinness World Records that are out there. How many more are there that you never knew about?
Many records are still waiting to be beaten, so why not find your talent and attempt one today.
