Guinness Book of Records

The Guinness Book of Records (or in recent editions Guinness World Records, and in previous US editions Guinness Book of World Records) is a book published annually, containing an internationally recognized collection of superlatives: both in terms of human achievement and the extrema of the natural world.

The first edition was published in 1955, commissioned by the Guinness brewery after a debate over the fastest species of gamebird could not be settled with existing reference books. It was researched by Ross and Norris McWhirter, twins and noted British athletes and journalists, who at the time ran a fact-finding agency in London. When the book became a surprise hit, many further editions were printed, eventually settling into a pattern of one revision each year, published in October to coincide with Christmas sales. The McWhirters continued to publish it and related books for many years.

Recent editions have focused on record feats by human competitors. Competitions range from obvious ones such as weightlifting to the more entertaining ones such as longest egg-throwing distance or the number of hot dogs that can be consumed in 10 minutes - although eating contest style entries are no longer accepted, possibly for fear of litigation. Besides records about competitions, it contains such facts as the height of the tallest human, the heaviest tumour, which is the most poisonous plant, the world's shortest river (the Roe River), etc.

Each edition contains a subset of the larger set of records in the Guinness database, and the choice reflects the year of publication.

The Guinness Book of Records is the world's most sold copyright book, thus earning it an entry within its own pages. A number of spinoff books and television series have also been produced.

External links

• www.guinnessworldrecords.com, the official site of the book
• www.recordholders.org, the site of Guinness world record holders, and the new official World Record Holders web site www.recordholdersrepublic.co.uk