Guiness World Records: "In Hall of Fame"

by A. C. de Silva

There is a certain kind of record holder who is unique to Guiness World Records experience. They may not be Olympians or recognizable household names, and they rarely receive sponsorship from big-name brands. Their collection of talents, however, makes them unique in their particular fields.

Tallest Living Man: Guiness World Records is nothing without the dedication, passion, mental strength, generosity and sense of humour of their inspiring characters.

XI Shun (China) born in 1951 measured a record-breaking 2.36 metres (7 ft 8.95 inches) when examined on 15th January, 2005 at Chifeng City Hospital, Inner Mongolic, China.

In September 2005, XI Shing made his first ever trip outside China when he visited the London offices of Guiness World Records. (He beats the previous record by less than a centimetre).

Blood donated: Maurice Creswick (South Africa) had donated 353 pints of blood as of 21st April, 2006. Having donated blood since his 18th birthday in 1944, he has given the equivalent of 200.5 litres (44.1 gals) todate.

More kisses in a minute: Grant Denyer (Australia) was kissed by 62 different people in one minute on the set of the "Sunrise TV Show" in Sydney, Australia to celebrate Guiness World Records Day.

Most socks worn on one foot: On 9th November, 2005, in Auckland, New Zealand, Alastair Galpin (New Zealand) wore 70 socks on one foot. At a similar event in Auckland, on 18th July, 2005, he set a record for the most finger snaps in one minute, with 119.

Largest collection of versions of one song: The largest collection of different versions of the same song is 1,384 interpretations of "My Funny Valentine", originally by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, in a collection held by J. Gerarde Barbosa Lima Filho (Brazil). The collector was verified on 9th November 2005.

Fastest time to eat three cream crackers: Ambrose Mindy (UK) devoured three cream crackers in 34.78 seconds at the studios of LBC Radio, London UK on 9th May 2005.

Fastest time to make one litre of ice cream: Peter Burhan (UK) made one litre of ice cream in 18.78 seconds at the Hinds Head Hotel in Bray, Maindenhead, UK on 21st June 2005.

Longest burning light bulb: The Livermore Centennial Light Bulbs at Firestation No. 6, Livermore, California,

 USA has been burning since it was installed in 1901.

It is a hand-blown bulb operating at about 4 watts, and is left on 24 hours a day in order to provide night illumination of fire engines.

There has only been one break in its operation, when it was removed from one fire station and fitted in another.

Smallest hold drilled: On 29th November, 2005, scientists at Cardiff University, UK announced the development of machinery that can drill holes just 22 microns (0.022 mm) across.

The technique uses a process called electro-discharge machining, and will eventually allow for improvements in the miniaturisation of electronic systems. By way of comparison, a human hair is 50-80 microns wide.

Largest Batik: The world's largest batik painting measured 103.9 m x 55 cm (340 ft x 21.6 in) and was created by Sarkasi Said (Singapore) on 20th May, 2003 is a method of dyeing fabric using wax to protect areas that are to be left untouched by the dye.

Longest Finernails: Lee Redmond (USA) has grown the longest finernails of both hands to reach a total length of 7.51 m (24 feet 7 inches). She has been growing her nails for 24 years and treats them daily with warm olive-oil and nail-hardener.

Lee lives a very active life, despite her finger nails, although she does attract the odd "unusual" admirers; she was once offered money to have her nails nibbled, the prospective buyer suggesting that he buy by the crich!

Even the prospect of the bathroom is undaunting to Lee. When asked how show "Goes", she replied: "carefully!"

Narrowest Waist: Inspired by her love of Victorian clothing, Cathie June (USA) - who stands at 1.72 m (5 ft 8 inches) has "trained" her waist to an incredible 38.1 cm (15 inches) when corsetted and 53.3 cm (21 inches) uncorsetted.