The world is a wonderful “phenomenon” with people from all different places, backgrounds, religions, races, etc. These people possess a wide range of abilities and talents, some that are extremely useful to themselves and others. And then there are others, whose “talents” are pretty bizarre.
The Guinness Book of World Records is a way to document people’s talents, no matter how big or small. You just have to be the best at that particular thing to make a name for yourself. Lucky for these world record holders, no one else is probably going to think about doing the same thing to beat them (at least not very often)!
Take a look below at some of the weirdest, wackiest, most bizarre world records that you probably never knew existed:
1. Longest Time Spent Buried Alive
For most of us, being buried alive is the stuff of nightmares. But Czech man Zdenek Zahradka spent 10 days in a coffin voluntarily. During this time, he had no food or water, and his only connection to the outside world was through a single breathing pipe. He made it out alive, and made history… so, good for him!
2. Longest Sausage Ever
Giving the term “sausage fest” a whole other meaning, a team of chefs (of all men) in Vinkovci, a town in Croatia, constructed a 530-meter long sausage. That’s almost 1 and a half times the length of an athletics track! They beat the previous world record, which was only a measly (heh) 392 meters long.
3. Most Carolina Reaper Chillies Eaten in 1 Minute
The Carolina Reaper Chilli is the hottest pepper in the world, registering at 2,200 on the Scoville Heat Unit (SHU). For reference, a bell pepper has an SHU of 0 and a poblano pepper 2000. Wayne Algenio from Queens, New York ate 22 of these peppers-from-hell in a single minute. Why? Because breaking a world record was “on his bucket list”. He says he hasn’t eaten a pepper since, which is understandable, but also says he’d consider doing it again if someone were to break his record. Just… why?
4. Most Instagrammed City in the World
This world record seems well suited to the current age of social media. The title of the world’s most Instagrammed city goes to…. drum roll please New York! That’s right, the Big Apple with all of its photogenic qualities has held this title since early 2017.
5. Farthest Milk Squirt From Eye
Iker Yilmaz has been the world record holder for squirting milk out of his eye at a distance of 9 feet and six inches since the year 2004. The event occurred in Istanbul, Turkey. I only have one question: how would one even know that they could do something like that with their body?
6. Most Canned Drinks Opened by a Parrot in One Minute
San Jose, USA resident Zac the Macaw must have been seriously dehydrated because he holds the current world record for most canned drinks opened by a parrot in one minute. The number of cans was 35!
7. Most Mustard Consumed in 30 Seconds
Andre Ortolf of Schwarzach, Germany holds the world record for most mustard (from a tube) drunk in 30 seconds. His record is 14.7 ounces. I guess if you wanted to get your name into the record books, just start guzzling any condiment you can get your hands on and hope you’re the fastest in the world?
8. World’s Deadliest Lake
This record is sort of grim along with being bizarre. Lake Nyos in Cameron was named the world’s deadliest lake when a large natural release of carbon dioxide ended up claiming the lives of about 1500 in a single night in 1986.
9. Largest Bagel Ever
Bagels are great and all, but this seems like taking it a step too far – but I guess no one should tell you to limit your passions. Bruegger’s Bagels in New York holds the current world record for the largest bagel ever made, with this monstrosity that weighed 869 pounds!
10. Largest Collection of Mermaid Items
Little girls have fantasized about being mermaids for a long time, but most of us grow out of it as we become adults. But self-described “mer-girl”, Laurie Koller of USA has over 726 items of mermaid-related items, including a $400 Lladro porcelain figurine. She received the world record title in October of 2015 and doesn’t seem to be letting go of it any time soon as she adds more items to the collection all the time.
11. Most People Brushing Their Teeth Simultaneously
A group of 10,800 students woke up one fine morning at the same time in the Philippines and decided to all brush their teeth together (for 3 continuous minutes) – resulting in the world record for most people brushing their teeth simultaneously. Well, it probably involved an bit more planning than that… but maybe not that much.
12. Most Words Typed By Nose
You heard that right! Mohammed Kursheed Hussain is the current world record holder for typing the most number of words – using his nose! His record is 103 characters in 47 seconds. Think you can beat his record? Give it a go!
13. Most Decimals of Pi Memorized
Rajveer Meena of Vellore India broke the world record for the most decimal places of pi memorized in 2015. It was 70,000 decimal places and it took him 10 hours to recite the entire thing! I don’t even want to try to fathom how long it must have taken to actually memorize it!
14. Most Number of Teeth
Unlike most people on this list, the Guinness world record holder for most numbers of teeth didn’t seek the title out. He was born with five extra ones already present – which automatically made him the title holder. He apparently has a great smile and finds chewing easier than others.
15. World Record Holder for Most Guinness World Records
Let’s finish this list off with weirdest world record of them all: a Guinness World Record for holding the most number of Guinness World Records (at 587 Guinness World Records). The title goes to Ashrita Furman of Queens, New York. He beat his first record in 1979 and currently holds a world record in every continent on the planet, and that’s including Antarctica!
