The Most Surprising Guinness World Records

Carlos Resino Sports Editor, The Pawprint

The idea for the book of records began in the early 1950s when Hugh Beaver, the Managing Director of the Guinness Brewery, went to a shooting party in County Wexford. There, he and his friends had a peaceful argument about the fastest game bird in Europe, and they failed to find an answer in any research book. 

In 1954, going back to his shooting party argument, Beaver had an idea for a Guinness promotion based on the idea of settling pub arguments. He invited the twins, Norris and Ross McWhirter, to create a book of facts and figures. Guinness Superlatives was incorporated on 30th November and the office opened in two rooms in a converted gymnasium. The rest, is history.

1: Most Big Macs Consumed in a Lifetime

Donald A. Gorske consumed his 26000th McDonald’s Big Mac on October 11th, 2012 – after 40 years of eating Big Macs on a daily basis.

2: Most Apples Held in Own Mouth and Cut by Chainsaw in One Minute

This illustrious honor happened in London after the artist, Johnny Strange, held eight apples and cut them open with a chainsaw in one minute in South Yorkshire, UK on October 2013.

3: Stretchiest Skin

British man, Garry Turner can stretch the skin of his stomach to 6.25 inches due to a rare medical condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It’s a connective-tissue disorder where the collagen becomes defective, and includes the loosening of the skin and hyper-mobile joints.

4: Most Piercings in a Lifetime

After her first skin piercing in January 1997, Elaine Davidson was hooked. The Brazilian former restaurant owner has been pierced a total of 4,225 times as of June 8, 2006.

5: Longest Fingernails Ever on a Woman

It took American Lee Redmond nearly 30 years to grow her nails out to the record-holding 28 feet, 4.5 inches in February 2008. The longest single nail was her right thumb, which reached to 2 feet, 11 inches. “I started to grow my nails in 1979 … it was kind of a challenge to myself to see how far they would go before they started twisting out of shape,” she said. Unfortunately, her nails snapped off in a 2009 car accident.