Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records

Slammin' Zac Records a Guinness-Worthy Feat

Does your b-ballin' parrot have tippy-top aspirations?
2013 Guinness World Records Animal Feats

Does your b-ballin' parrot have tippy-top aspirations? He'd better keep practicing if he hopes to out-slam Zac from San Francisco, CA, who now holds the record for most slam dunks in one minute. In the 2013 edition of the Guinness World Records book, available today, the experts on amazing feats reveal four animals whose skills or stature place them at the top (or in one case, the bottom) of their species's strata. Prepare to be wowed when you check out this slideshow!

Source: James Ellerker/Guinness World Records

Food News

What Do You Make of Oversized Food?

Happy Friday, and happy National Lollipop Day!

Happy Friday, and happy National Lollipop Day! In honor of the occasion, See's Candies constructed the world's largest lollipop in San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza this morning. The candy on a stick — standing in at 16 feet, 7 inches tall and a whopping 7,003 pounds — was declared the world's largest lollipop by Guinness World Records.

After hearing about the feat, the first thought that came to mind was, "What flavor is it, and who's eating it?" In case the color doesn't give it away, it's chocolate — but if you're hoping for a hunk, then you're out of luck. The lolly will be on display for the next couple days, only to be disposed of by a local recycling company thereafter. I love the idea of oversized food, but I always wish there was a way to put the food to practical use!

What's your take on it?

Source: See's Candies

6 Standout Social Media World Records

Today is the second annual Social Media Day, and we're not exactly sure the proper way to celebrate.

Today is the second annual Social Media Day, and we're not exactly sure the proper way to celebrate. Comment on all our friends' Facebook statuses? Check in on Foursquare to every business within a block's radius of our office? Try to beat Charlie Sheen in fastest to reach 1 million Twitter followers? All right, the last one will be tricky since Charlie already holds the Guinness World Record for that statistic.

Keeper of global achievements, Guinness World Records released a list of impressive social media records in honor of today's festivities. Here are some of our favorites:

  • The most likes on a Facebook page goes to Facebook itself! Over 47 million users have clicked the thumbs up button on Facebook's Facebook page. Maybe it has a slight advantage.
  • The most disliked video on YouTube is Justin Bieber's "Baby" music video. Hey — that song is rather catchy! Don't worry Beliebers, the video is also the site's most viewed with over 575 million views.
  • YouTube's most liked video is Judson Laipply's "Evolution of Dance," which has over 750,000 likes.

Keep reading for more world records.

News

World's Largest Cupcake Attempt Is a Sweet Success

Another one to add to the list of highly unconventional cupcakes: This 1,224-pound behemoth of a baked good, which just knocked out a recent record contender for the title of world's largest cupcake.

Another one to add to the list of highly unconventional cupcakes: This 1,224-pound behemoth of a baked good, which just knocked out a recent record contender for the title of world's largest cupcake.

The prodigious pastry, which composed of triple vanilla cake batter and topped with pink frosting, was more than eight times the size of the previous record holder in girth. It stood 4 feet tall and spanned 11 feet around, and was created by Manchester, NH-based GourmetGiftBaskets.com. It required 800 eggs, 200 pounds each of sugar and flour, five days of preparation, and 12 hours of baking time.
Slices of the cupcake were served over the weekend at the Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise Classic Car Show in Detroit, MI, in exchange for donations to breast cancer foundation Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Even though the cupcake contained an estimated 2 million calories, I wouldn't have been able to pass up this once-in-a-lifetime indulgence. Does the cupcake look appetizing to you?

Photo Courtesy of Charles Whitman

News

Covent Garden Cupcake Takes the Cake as World's Largest

The cupcake craze is hardly over.

The cupcake craze is hardly over. Yesterday, hundreds of cupcake consumers crowded London's Covent Garden to witness the cutting of what is now the world's largest cupcake. The oversized confection, which was baked and iced by acclaimed pastry chef Michelle Wibowo, was created to honor the city's Covent Garden Real Food Market, and weighed over 330 pounds. Other important statistics: The cupcake measured 1.25-x-1.2 meters (approximately 4-x-4 feet), and was designed to feed 2,000 people, requiring more than 50 hours of labor and 200 eggs.To make a pastry of such scale, Wibowo, over the course of five days, whipped up batches of smaller-sized sponge cakes, and layered them, eventually carving the masterpiece into a cupcake shape. "I dread to think how many calories it has," she remarked. I'm still attempting to wrap my head around the fact that a cupcake — which, by definition, is a miniature cake — can weigh in at over 300 pounds. Then again, I suppose, with all its layers, that the pièce de résistance is technically more cake than it is cupcake. Still, I'd love to get my hands on some of it. What do you think of the gargantuan creation?

Photo by flickr user BitchBuzz

News

Woman Breaks World Record For Eating World's Hottest Chiles

For some spice lovers, jalapeno-laden hamburgers just won't do.

For some spice lovers, jalapeno-laden hamburgers just won't do. Take Anandita Dutta Tamuly, a 26-year-old woman from Assam, India, who set a Guinness world record last week when she consumed 51 of the world's hottest chile peppers in only two minutes. She also rubbed 24 of the same chile peppers in her eyes over the span of one minute.

Overseeing the feat with a watchful eye was none other than chef Gordon Ramsay, who was in India filming for a British TV program. The reality show host and restaurateur could only consume one of the peppers before screaming for water. Measuring in at 1 million Scoville heat units, the bhut jolokia is known to the be world's hottest known chile pepper (jalapenos, in comparison, contain roughly 2,500 to 8,000 Scovilles.)

A single seed from this pepper is known to cause puffy, watering eyes, a runny nose, and a burning sensation that may last for up to five hours. So how did she manage to defy the laws of nature? The mother of one explained:

I have been eating bhut jolokia since my childhood and never felt the hotness in my mouth. When I was five, I had a sore tongue and my mother applied a chili paste to cure the infection. Since then I developed a penchant for chiles. To be honest, I barely notice them now.

I'm shocked to hear that this record was humanly possible — especially considering the tragic death that occurred last year after a UK man consumed too much spicy sauce. What do you think of the stunt: is it amazing, or simply incredibly foolish?

Source

motivation

Marathon Motivation

Motivation to run the 26.2 miles of a marathon comes in many different forms – some of them related.

Motivation to run the 26.2 miles of a marathon comes in many different forms – some of them related. And in this case I mean that literally. The thirteen Weisse siblings will be running in Wisconsin's Fox Cities Marathon this weekend. Aside from the bragging rights that come with finishing a marathon, if the entire family finishes they will break the current Guinness World Records. Currently holding the record is a family of 12 Irish siblings that completed the Dublin marathon.

Each member of the family needs to complete all 26.2 miles in 8 hours. I am rooting for them! Most of the Weisse siblings are running newbies, but the family, spread across the state of Wisconsin and the U.S., used daily e-mails to encourage and inspire each other. I, for one am, inspired!

What about you? Would having your name and the names of all your siblings in the Guinness Book of World Records motivate you to run a marathon? Tell me how you feel about it in the comments section below!