"Henry Allingham, Oldest Man, dies at 113
"Cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women" finally take their toll on world's oldest man.
Henry Allingham, the oldest surviving veteran of World War I, passes away after a short period as the world's oldest living man. Henry (b. 6 June 1896), whose remarkable life spanned three centuries and six monarchs – and who saw the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic and the first Moon landings – has died peacefully from natural causes at his care home in Ovington, near Brighton, UK. He leaves behind five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 14 great-great-grandchildren and one great-great-great-grandchild." . . . . The article continued and ended with: "The title of world's oldest living man will now most likely fall to American Walter Breuning, who was born on 21 September 1896. Guinness World Records will make a formal announcement as soon as the record has been verified by Senior Gerontology Consultant Robert Young.
Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief
18 July 2009"
It made me wonder about other world records. Here are some World Records set here in the good ole USA, that is, according Guiness Book of World Records:
"One, two, three strikes and you’re out… on a breezy July evening at Citi Field, New York City, USA, to help set a new Guinness World Records™ record for the most people eating potato chips simultaneously!
The record attempt venueThe record attempt venue. In the middle of the second inning, Guinness World Records™ Adjudicators Danny Girton Jr and Jennifer Gilmour observed as 33,756 fans opened their 0.75-oz bags of Wise Potato Chips to eat and participate in the attempt – bags had been distributed to fans upon entry to the stadium.
The smallest dog in terms of length is Heaven Sent Brandy, a female chihuahua who measured 6 inches from the nose to the tip of the tail on January 31, 2005. Brandy lives with her owner, Paulette Keller in Largo, Florida, USA.
The longest ears on a dog measured 13.75 and 13.5 inches for the right and left ears, respectively, on September 29, 2004. They belong to Tigger, a bloodhound, who is owned by Bryan and Christina Flessner of St Joseph, Illinois, USA.
The tallest dog living is Gibson, a harlequin great Dane, who measured 42.2 inches tall on August 31, 2004 and is owned by Sandy Hall of Grass Valley, California, USA.
The world record for the highest jump cleared by a dog is 68 inches, achieved by Cinderella May a Holly Grey, owned by Kate Long and Kathleen Conroy (both USA) of Miami, Florida, USA, at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge National Finals, Gray Summit, Missouri, USA on 7 October 2006.
The tallest self-supported rose bush measured 13 ft 3 inches on December 5, 2005 and grows in the garden of Paul and Sharon Palumbo who live in San Diego, California, USA.
The largest permanent hedge maze is the Pineapple Garden Maze at the Dole Plantation in Wahiawa, Hawaii, USA, which has a total area of 3.15 acres and total path length of 2.46 miles. The maze opened in 1997 and expanded in size in July 2007.This maze also holds the record for the longest path in a permanent hedge maze.
The world's largest jack o'lantern was carved by Scott Cully (USA) from the world's largest pumpkin on October 31, 2005 in Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania, USA. The pumpkin was grown by Larry Checkon (USA) and weighed 1,469 lb at the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Association Weigh-off, on October 1, 2005.
The largest carved sapphire is a multi-coloured (blue, gold, grey) polished rock that weighs 80,500 carats (35.49 lb). The sapphire was displayed during the annual Unifour Gem & Mineral & Jewellery Show at the Hickory Metro Convention, North Carolina, USA on March 19, 2005. .
The world's longest running TV drama is Procter & Gamble Productions' Guiding Light (CBS, USA), which was first aired on 30 June 1952, and is currently broadcast each week day. Guiding Light was originally broadcast as a 15 min radio serial on WLW Radio in Cincinnati, beginning on 25 January 1937 and will end its run in September, 2009.
In November 2003, Guinness World Records celebrated the publication of its 100 millionth copy! This confirms that, excluding non-copyright works such as the Bible and the Koran, the definitive book of world records is the world's best selling book.It was first published in October 1955 by Guinness Superlatives, a subsidiary of Arthur Guinness Son Co. (Park Royal) Ltd and has since gone global, selling in some 37 languages.Comparatively, the five Harry Potter books to date have sold over 100 million copies, and Mao Tse-Tung's Little Red Book was sold or given away to around 900 million.
The world's tallest sandcastle measured 31 ft 6 in and was created by Camp Sunshine at the Point Sebago Resort in Casco, Maine, USA, on September 1, 2007.
The largest marionette was Zozobra measuring 49 ft 11 in in height and was presented by the Kiwanis Club in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA at the Fiestas de Santa Fe on 7th September 2007.
The largest twister board measured 128 ft long and 119 ft wide and was achieved by The University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, on 23 October 2008.
The largest collection of bar towels belongs to Robert Begley of Chambersburg, United States, with 2,372 towels representing 27 different countries; which he has been collecting since 1990.
The largest collection of keychains belongs to Brent Dixon of Valdosta, Georgia, USA, with 41,418 non-duplicated key chains, which he has been collecting since 2001.
The largest collection of model cars belongs to Michael Zarnock of Deerfield, New York, USA, with 8,128 different Hot Wheels® model cars, as of February 14, 2007, which he has amassed since 1968.
Lauren Lubeck Blair and David E. Hough Blair of Tennessee, USA, married each other for the 83rd time on August 16, 2004, at the Lighthouse Lounge at the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA! The adoring couple first tied the knot in 1984, and since then they've been hitched in the USA, UK, and Dutch Antilles."We love telling each other we love each other, and looking into each other's eyes and saying our vows," sighs devoted David.
The largest sandwich weighed 5,440 lb and was made by Wild Woody's Chill and Grill, Roseville, Michigan, USA on March 17, 2005.
The largest commercially available hamburger is 164.8 lbs and is available for US$399 on the menu at Mallie's Sports Grill & Bar in Southgate, Michigan, USA, as of 29 August 2008.
A parade of 2,118 Harley Davidson motorcycles took part in the 17th annual Children's Hospital Toy Run at Denver, Colorado, USA, on December 8, 2002.
The longest motorcycle ride through a tunnel of fire was successfully completed by Clint Ewing (USA) and measured 200 ft long at Universal City, Los Angeles, USA on 27 January 2008. The record was attempted for the NBC TV Special "Guinness World Records Live - The Top 100".
Gregory Dunham (Calilfornia, USA) has constructed a rideable motorcycle that is 11 ft 3 in tall to the top of handlebars, 20 ft 4 in long and weighs 6,500 lb. It is powered by a 8.2 litre (502 cu in) V8 engine and has tires that are 74 in tall.
A total of 83 tow trucks participated in a parade through the streets of Wenatchee, Washington, USA, on August 20, 2004 at an event arranged by the Washington Tow Truck Association.
Bob Holloway (USA) made a journey of 2,580 miles in a powered paraglider following the 'Lewis & Clark trail' from Astoria, Oregon, to Washington, Missouri, USA, from June 18 to July 12, 2004.
The longest snowmobile journey totalled 12,163 m driven by Robert G. Davis (USA) on his Yamaha RS Venture snowmobile, during a 60 day period between 11 January 2008 and 11 March 2008.
Jay Stokes (USA) made 640 successful parachute jumps in a 24-hour period on 8 and 9 September 2006 above Greensburg Municipal Airport, Greensburg, Indiana, USA.
Minnesotan pastry chef JodiLee Knops helped Cakes.com bake up a sweet treat fit to warrant the title of largest cupcake! Baked over the course of 13 hours, the 150-lb 11.2-oz creation stood 12 in tall, spread 24 in wide and was decorated to resemble Nickelodeon network’s cartoon character SpongeBob Squarepants."
P.S. I didn't write these - this is the way they are written by Guiness but I did use only measurements traditionally used in the USA.
