Monday, July 20, 2009

Guinness World Records


Anandita Dutta Tamuly smears ghost chilies, the world's spiciest, in her eyes before gobbling them up during an attempt to enter the Guinness World Records books, in Jorhat, India, April 9. British chef Gordon Ramsay is beside her. Organizers said the 28-year-old Indian woman ate 51 fire-hot chilies in two minutes.



Guinness World Records named Canadian Dave Devall the world's longest-serving TV weatherman after 48 years, two months and 27 days of forecasting. Devall retired April 3 from CTV Toronto. When the station surprised him with the news of his record, Devall asked, "Will that get me a glass of Guinness?" 



Linda Wolfe, 68, of Anderson, Ind., shows off photos of a few of her ex-husbands. Wolfe, who has been married 23 times and holds the title of world's most married person, said in February that she's lonely and would love to walk down the aisle again, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.




Mexico City became the new smooching capital on Valentine's Day. Carlos Martinez of Guinness World Records confirmed that 39,897 people entered a gated area in the city's Zocalo square Saturday to lock lips. The Mexican capital broke the previous record, set by the English town of Weston-super-Mare in 2007.


Lee Redmond's record-length fingernails were broken in a car accident Feb. 10. The Utah woman's nails, which hadn't been cut since 1979, totaled more than 28 feet in length during a 2008 measurement. The longest nail, on her right thumb, was 2 feet, 11 inches. 



Eric Hahn holds the record of world's tallest mohawk at 27 inches.



Previously, Aaron Studham of Massachusetts set a record for highest hair, at 24 inches.


Suresh Joachim broke his own Guinness record for nonstop broadcast-television watching by sitting in front of the tube for 72 hours. Here, the Sri Lankan native is seen setting his previous record -- 69 hours and 48 minutes -- three years ago in New York as Kelly Ripa and Regis Philbin watch.



Cindy Jackson, 52, holds the record for having had 47 cosmetic surgeries, the most in the world. She's shown above in 2004.


Hot on Jackson's heels is Brazilian model and lingerie designer Angela Bismarchi, who had 42 cosmetic surgeries last time we checked.



Khalil Semhat holds a giant potato he found on his farm near Tyre, Lebanon, for photographers on Dec. 6. He said he hopes the nearly 25-pounder will be a Guinness World Record.



Peruvian chefs, elbow deep in 6.8 tons of square-cut fish, onion and lime, won the the Guinness World Record for the largest batch of ceviche. The classic dish includes raw fish and a spicy citrus sauce that "cooks" it.



Russia's Svetlana Pankratova, the world's leggiest woman, poses with China's He Pingping, the world's smallest man, in London in September. Pankratova's legs are 4 feet, 4 inches long. He stands at 2 feet and 5.37 inches tall.



Last August, China's Bao Xishun reclaimed the title of the world's tallest man after Leonid Stadnik of Ukraine refused to be measured under new guidelines from Guinness World Records. Bao is 7 feet, 8.95 inches.



Sandy Allen, who was known as the world's tallest woman at 7 feet 7.25 inches tall, died Aug. 13 at a nursing home in Indiana. Before her death, Allen had been hospitalized for several ailments. She was 53.


In January 2008, Tantric meditation master Wim Hof beat his own record for immersing his body in ice. Hof stood on a Manhattan street in a clear container filled with ice for an hour and 12 minutes -- four minutes longer than the record he set in 2004.



George Bell, a sheriff's deputy in Norfolk, Va., stands at 7 feet 8 inches tall. Guinness World Records named the 50-year-old the tallest man in the United States.



Jackie Bibby of Texas earned a Guinness title for sitting in a bathtub with 87 rattlesnakes. Bibby broke his previous record by 12 snakes.



Switzerland's Marco Hort can fit 264 straws in his mouth, more than anyone else.



C. Manoharan of India first set a record for swallowing 200 earthworms in 30 seconds. He also tried to set a record by flossing two snakes through one nostril.



Elaine Davidson, a Brazilian who lives in Scotland, set the record for most body piercings at 4,250.



Turkey's Mehmet Ozyurek set the record for the world's longest nose, measuring nearly 3-1/2 inches.



Tran Van Hay of Vietnam is thought to have the world's longest hair, measuring over 20 feet, but it is unverified. He hasn't had a haircut in more than 30 years.



China's Li Jianhua set the world record for pulling a car the longest distance with an ear.



Jianhua once held the record for lifting the most weight with an ear, but he was surpassed by Pakistan's Zafar Gill. Guinness recognizes Gill for picking up a 135.7 pound weight with his ear in 2007. (Sources: AP, Guinness Book of World Records)