Weird, wacky world records tumble
2009-11-13 12:53
New York - In London, a man pulled a double-decker bus with his hair. In Memphis, 297 cheerleaders joined forces in one massive dance. In Italy, spaghetti eaters raced to get through a bowl of pasta in the least time.
Thousands of people across the world tried to set new records in the bizarre and the biggest on Thursday, the fifth annual Guinness World Records Day.
"Guinness World Records Day grows bigger and better every year, and the fifth annual celebration has been the most memorable yet," Craig Glenday, editor of Guinness World Records, said in a statement.
In London, Manjit Singh, a security consultant known as the "Ironman", pulled a double decker bus weighing more than eight tons over a distance of 21.2m with his hair, setting a new record.
For Singh, 59, his latest achievement makes up for the disappointment of 2007, when he failed to break the record for the furthest distance to pull a double-decker bus with the ears.
"I will never be discouraged by defeat, because I know that success can be waiting around the next corner," he said. "The only way to get there is to try again and stay positive."
Also in London, 112 commuters put aside their English rush-hour reserve to set a record for the most people hugging for a minute, while Shaun Jones won the title for the fastest hot water bottle burst at 18.81 seconds.
In Italy, a new fastest time was set for eating a bowl of pasta (one minute 30 seconds) and in Norway the largest ever gingerbread man was made weighing 651kg. In Finland, people from 76 nationalities fitted into a single sauna.
In the United States, Fort Worth, Texas, played host to the record for most people swirling lassos simultaneously, with 23 taking up the challenge at the Stockyards Championship Rodeo.
A field of 297 cheerleaders broke the record for largest cheerleading dance in Memphis, Tennessee, while in New York City, the restaurant Serendipity III created the largest cup of hot chocolate, which reached a volume of four gallons and measured 11 inches tall by 14 inches wide.
In Egypt, a new time of 13 hours 33 minutes was set for the fastest vehicle crossing of the Egyptian Western Desert and in China a record time of 6 minutes and 2 seconds was logged for ascending a sand dune on a motorcycle.
Not everyone was successful, however. In Australia, 228 people were not enough to break the largest bikini parade record.
Guinness World Records is considered the authority on world records, and its book has sold over 100 million copies.
