Biggest, tallest, fastest, oldest, strongest, best: It’s a matter of records
What do Malala Yousafzai, Mount Everest and David Attenborough have in common?
Each, giants in their own right, hold titles with Guinness World Records, the ultimate authority on record-breaking achievements, first published on this day in 1955.
The Guinness Book of Records, as it was originally known, was born from an argument between Sir Hugh Beaver, then managing director of the Guinness Brewery, and the fellow attendees of a shooting party.
During the hunt, Beaver and his hosts argued about the fastest game bird in Europe – and when the group failed to find a definitive answer in any reference book, they realised there was a market for a novelty encyclopaedia to settle friendly arguments that often brew over pints in the pub.
After a recommendation from an employee, Beaver employed twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, the founders of an agency that provided facts, figures and statistics to Fleet Street newspapers, commissioning the pair to create a promotional book under the name Guinness Superlatives.
Starting on November 30, 1954, the brothers began compiling lists of world records, and after just more than three months – working up to 90 hours each week – the Guinness Book Of Records was born.
With an initial run of 50,000 copies, the innovative tome became an instant hit, topping the bestsellers chart by Christmas the same year. Now, almost 70 years later, its popularity is still thriving, having sold more than 150 million copies in more than 100 countries and 40 languages. Last year alone, 1.8 million fact fans bought their own copy.
Of the 60,789 active titles in the Guinness World Records database, there are stalwart records challenged, broken and approved every year. For example, the current oldest living person in the world is Lucile Randon, a French nun born on February 11, 1904, while Sultan Kösen, at 8ft 2.8in, is the tallest man alive.
However, unique and creative records have become increasingly popular over the decades, with individuals, teams and even animals attempting impossible feats to have their name recorded in the history books. Otto, a Peruvian bulldog, for instance, landed a place in the record books for the longest human tunnel travelled through by a skateboarding dog.
Over the years, records have also been dropped or changed. In the 1900s, the creators announced they would no longer accept
applications for “unfettered gluttony” due to concerns that competitors would cause themselves harm by pushing their bodies to the extreme. Similarly, “heaviest pets” was discontinued to deter people from over-feeding cats and dogs.
For standard applications, it takes up to 12 weeks for records to be processed and verified, with the organisation receiving more than 1,000 submissions every single week.
In Scotland, records are held for everything from the youngest snooker world champion (Stephen Hendry took the title aged 21 on April 29, 1990) to shortest domestic scheduled flight, an honour bestowed on the two-minute journey between the Orkney islands of Westray and Papa Westray.