We are all familiar with the Guinness World of Records — where people showcase their bizarre talents and unusual discoveries. If you are looking for the largest, longest, tallest, smallest, shortest, most and least of quantities, fastest, slowest, highest, deepest, or narrowest of things, you can find all of it here in just one place.
Today, we give you 20 of the world records set and broken by people, and even animals, that are far from the usual and a little bit insane.
1. Most Tennis Balls Held in a Dog’s Mouth
Dogs love tennis balls, and there is no denying to that. They often run around in the park chasing the little green furry ball, or they would sit in silence while they chew it away. However, a golden retriever from Texas, named Augie, has a serious love for these balls. He currently holds the record for the most tennis balls held in a dog’s mouth as he managed to pick up 5 regulation-size tennis balls with his mouth.
2. Most Steps Walked by a Dog Balancing a Glass of Water
Another canine has made it to the world record book in 2008 for the most forward steps taken while balancing a glass of water on its head. Sweat Pea, an Australian Shepherd-Border Collie in Germany, has managed to take 10 steps without spilling the contents of a glass which was filled with 141 grams of water, while perched on its nose. Quite impressive for it is difficult to train dogs with such a trick.
3. The World’s Fastest Toilet
Yes, you read that right. There is really a world record for the fastest toilet, and it is acclaimed by Colin Furze, an Englishman, who invented a toilet mounted on a platform with wheels. This bizarre invention works perfectly as a toilet that can be flushed on the move, and it can get to the speeds of up to 55 mph which only runs from a power of 140 CC motorbike engine. It has beaten the previous record of 42.25 mph (to think that someone has actually tried this before).
4. Running a Marathon Backwards while Juggling
Let’s admit it — running a 26.2-mile marathon can be a bit tedious for most us as it requires a serious amount of effort and dedication during the training and the actual event. Then, imagine participating in the marathon while running backwards.
Well, Joe Salter of Florida, USA, has done this amazing feat. Like running backwards isn’t challenging enough, he finished the marathon while juggling three balls for the entire duration of the race. He crossed the finish line with a final time of 5 hours, 51 minutes and 25 seconds, a record that most of us would be proud of. However, he dropped the balls on a couple of occasions. Still, it is pretty impressive!
5. Most Beer Steins Carried over 40m
It is not surprising that a German broke the record for the most number of beer steins carried over the distance of 40 meters. In 2008, Anita has achieved the record by carrying a staggering 19 full beer steins all at once.
6. Number of Clothers Pulled off a Washing Line by a Dog
It seems like dogs have taken the world record by storm. A German Terrier, named Gustl, set the world record for the most clothes pulled off a washing line under 60 seconds, with a result of 13 pieces of clothing.
Back in November 2014, another canine, called Panya, attempted to break the world record in Berlin. However, his efforts only gave him 9 socks.
7. Most Time Spent in Direct Full Body Contact with Snow
The unforgiving temperatures of ice are enough to kill a man who has been exposed in the freezing cold for way too long. However, Oleksiy Gutsulyak has managed to strip down into his birthday suit and laid on the ground covered with a heap of snow for an incredible time of 1 hour and 8 seconds before the cold got to him. This has made him the record holder for the longest time spent in direct and full-body contact with snow.
8. Most Rotations Hanging from a Drill
The record for the most rotations while hanging from a power drill is held by Huy Giang from Germany. He managed to complete the dizzying 360-degree feat with 148 rotations in 60 seconds.
9. Deepest Cycling Underwater
How often do you see a person cycling underwater? Probably not often as much, I guess, as this is a rigorous task to do, since you will be battling the forces of nature to do this. Vittorio Innocente, nonetheless, has completed this in 2008 when he mounted a bike and pedaled across the ocean floor of the Italin sunk in Liguria, Italy, which reaches a depth of 66.5 meters (218.2 ft). Due to this accomplishment, he has received two world records for the deepest the furthest distance covered in an underwater cycle.
10. Most Beer Bottle Caps Removed with Teeth
It seems pretty easy to open a beer bottle or two with only your teeth. But it must be painful to do this with 68 bottles. Such problem is not for Murali K.C. though as he opened 68 caps in a time of 60 seconds, seizing the record for the most beer caps removed with teeth under a minute.
11. Tallest Mohawk Record
This definitely made it to the list. How could it not have? Featuring the world’s tallest mohawk by the Japanese designer Kazuhiro Watanabe which stands at an impressive height of 3 feet and 8.6 inches. It took him 15 years to grow his hair to achieve the record. However, he already has a competition, as his 10-year-old daughter vowed to snatch the record from him one-day.
Many people like to think they have a hairstyle that is unique to them, but Kazuhiro Watanabe may well have a case. The Japanese designer holds the world record for the tallest mohawk ever recorded, standing at an impressive 3 ft 8.6 inches. Watanabe set the record in 2012. It took him 15 years to grow his hair to the record length. The world record holder may have some competition though, as he states that his 10-year-old daughter has already vowed to beat his record one day.
12. Most Successful throws while Juggling Three Chainsaws
Safety precautions must be taken when using a chainsaw as it can cause grave injuries and amputations. But world record holder Ian Stewart doesn’t seem to care. He currently holds the record for the most successful throws while juggling three chainsaws, in 2011. He managed to achieve 94 successful throws in just 37 seconds. Like this was hard enough, he did the challenge with the chainsaws running.
13. Most Naked People on a Theme Park Ride
Indeed, this world record exists, and it is currently held by the amusement park Adventure Island that is located in Southend-On-Sea, England. Last August 2010, they have set up a total of 102 people to ride the Green Scream rollercoaster while bare naked. The ride only has a capacity of 40 people at a time, so it took them three separate rides to set the world record.
14. Most Toilet Seats Broken by Head
While most practitioners of martial arts have been known to showcase their prowess through breaking materials such as wood, concrete, or bricks by punching, kicking, and head-butting, Kevin Shelley has a weird choice of material to break. Last 2007 in Germany, Shelley broke a total of 46 toilet seats in 60 seconds, making him the record holder for the most toilet seats broken with headbutt in one minute.
15. Heaviest Weight Lifted by Tongue
Some may argue that tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body. While this may or may not be true, Thomas Blackthorne has managed to complete a daring feat back in 2008 of lifting an impressive 12.5-kilogram weight that is hooked into his tongue.
16. Fastest 100m Running on All Fours
Human beings are known to be bipedals. Since we learned to walk, we rarely get and all-fours, and it would be pretty hard for us if we crawl our way down the street.
However, Japanese sprinter Kenichi Ito managed to cover a 100-meter distance while on all-fours. It took him 16.87 seconds to finish the tracks. According to him, he patterned his movements to the running style of the African Patas mokey, and it took him 9 years to actually perfect the technique.
17. Most Needles Inserted into the Head
Ouch! That looks painful.
Having a fear of needles is just a usual phobia that most of humans have. Contrary for this man however, Wei Shengchu made himself into a human pincushion as he pushed a cringing total of 2,009 needles into the skin of his head, grabbing the world record for the most needles inserted into the head.
18. Most People Hula Hooping at the Same Time
In Thammasat University in Bangkok. 4,183 people gathered to participate in setting the world record for the most people simultaneously hula-hooping. They lasted for two minutes, and 397 people were disqualified for not abiding to the mechanics.
19. Most Bras Unhooked in One Minute
It is an impressive ability to unhook a bra with only one hand. Coincidentally, an Irish man named Sean Murray has taken his talent to the next level by setting the world record for the most bras unhooked in a minute. He managed to unhook 91 bras under the time limit which averages into one bra per 0.66 seconds.
20. Egg Balancing Record
Eggs have a distinct shape that are very difficult to balance — but not for Brian Spotts Of Colorado Springs. He currently holds the world record for the most eggs balanced on their ends. He first attempted to set the record with a staggering total of 439 eggs in 2005, but the title was nabbed from him by another competitor who balanced 888 eggs. Spotts went on to reclaim his crown in 2011 when he balanced a groundbreaking 900 eggs on their ends.