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Gallery of Wonders: The Weirdest World Records
Intro
From the world's hairiest child to the highest fireball blown by a fire-breather, we've rounded up seven wild and weird Guinness World Records. Prepare to be amazed!
Most current Guinness World Records held at the same time by an individual
Ashrita Furman holds the most current Guinness World Records, with 121 titles under his belt, from setting records for juggling underwater while surrounded by sharks in a Malaysian aquarium to bouncing on a kangaroo ball on the Great Wall of China.
Since Furman, 56, set his first record in 1979 for doing 27,000 jumping jacks in a row he has set 342 world records, many of which have since been beaten. He gained his most recent title for the "most lemons caught blindfolded in one minute by a team of two" on May 13.
Furman, nicknamed "Mr. Versatility" because of his ability to set new records in a wide range of GWR categories, has set records in all seven continents. These include hula hooping for the fastest mile at Ayers Rock in Australia, standing on a stability ball for the longest time at Stonehenge in England and walking the longest distance while balancing a pool cue near the pyramids of Egypt.
Loudest purr by a domestic cat
Smokey the cat can purr as loud as 67.7 decibels approximately as loud as an electric shaver. That's loud enough to set a new Guinness World Record for the loudest purr by a domestic cat.
The gray tabby gained recognition when her owner, Ruth Adams of Pitsford, Northhampton in the United Kingdom, ran a local competition for the most powerfully purring cat. Students from a community college recorded Smokey's loud purr and submitted it to GWR.
Domestic cats normally purr at a range of about 22 to 30 decimals. By comparison, a lawnmower is 90 decibels. Blue whales and fin whales hold the GWR for the loudest animal sound: The songs they sing to communicate check in at 188 decibels.
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World's hairiest child
Supatra "Nat" Sasupha, 11, was born with hypertrichosis, a rare genetic condition that causes excessive hairiness and is sometimes referred to as "werewolf syndrome."
Guinness World Record judges evaluated Sasuphan's body hair using the Ferriman Gallwey method, which consists of measuring the amount of hair on nine different parts of the body the upper lip, chin, chest, back, abdomen, arm, forearm, thigh, and lower leg. After assessing Sasuphan, the judges crowned her with the world's hairiest child title on the GWR's Italian TV show, "Lo Show dei Record."
"Being hairy makes me special," Sasuphan told GWR. "This is the happiest day of my life!"
Fire-Breathing World Record: highest fireball
Fire-breather Antonio Restivo holds the record for highest blown flame for making an incredible fireball that flew higher than 26 feet.
Restivo, who is currently a headliner in the Tournament of Kings show at the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas, N.V., invited a Guinness World Records judge to witness his record-breaking flame on Jan. 11. To measure the fire's summit, a paper with height markers was taped to the wall, reaching up to the ceiling.
After two attempts, the fire-breather unleashed a fireball that touched the ceiling 26 feet and 5 inches (8.05 meters) above, breaking the previous record of 23 ft 7 in (7.20 m).
Smartphone Speed Typing
At the LG Mobile Worldcup Championships in New York City on Jan. 26, representatives from all over the world competed for the Guinness World Records title of fastest typing on a smartphone.
The winner was Australia's Cheong Kit Au, who typed a 264-character phrase in 1 minute and 17.03 seconds. The characters had been preselected by Guinness World Records and had to be entered on a smartphone's QWERTY keypad.
Most Poisonous Plant
The most poisonous plant in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Castor oil plant is also known as the "palm of Christ", or Palma Christi, which stems from the plant oil's ability to heal wounds. However, it also has the power to kill, as just one milligram of the plant's poison can kill an adult, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
For centuries, the Chinese have used castor oil as a medicine and when bandaging injuries. The plant is also used to produce biodiesel fuel in Brazil, where it is called mamona oil. Castor oil can also be found in chocolate when it is used as a cocoa butter substitute, as well as in soap, laxatives, ink and plastics. The flowering plant's seeds, however, contain ricin, an extremely poisonous toxin. Ricin is also present in lower concentrations in the plant's glossy leaves, which are most often dark green or burgundy.
Stretchiest Skin
Garry Turner can stretch the skin on his abdomen an amazing 6.25 inches, good enough to earn him the Guinness World Record for the stretchiest skin. His skin is so stretchy that he is able to pull the skin from his neck completely over his lower jaw.
Turner is able to stretch his skin to such an extent because of a rare medical condition called Elhers-Danlos Syndrome, a disorder of the connective tissues that affects the skin, ligaments and internal organs. In people with Elhers-Danlos Syndrome, the collagen that strengthens the skin and determines its elasticity becomes defective, resulting in a loosening of the skin and hypermobility of the joints.