One for the Guinness record book
for printing and publishing in the capital.
The McWhirters agreed, and spent over three months compiling a list of interesting facts and figures for a tome to be found on every bar top.
A trial run of the very first Guinness Book of Records was published in August 1954, and distributed to local watering holes. A new publishing company, Guinness Superlatives, was incorporated that November, and opened at 107 Ludgate House on Fleet Street.
After some revisions, the first edition of 198 pages went on sale on Aug 27, 1955, and topped the Christmas bestseller lists that year, flying off the shelves every year thereafter.
Between 1972 and 2001, the BBC children’s show, Record Breakers, discussed achievements from the book, featuring the McWhirter Brothers answering questions from the audience with the aid of their encyclopaedic memories.
That segment was tragically brought to a close when Ross was assassinated by the Provisional IRA in 1975, prompting Norris to continue alone.
As the book’s fame grew, the brewer found itself in the unusual position of being recognised as an international authority on a wide array of world records, providing adjudicators to oversee new attempts at ever-more unlikely feats.
The public can apply to set a new record, or break an old one, via the Guinness World Records website.
According to Guinness, the book only has space to house 4,000 records out of the 40,000 the company holds. – The Independent