Amazing World Records: Craziest Mass Participation World Records

---World Record for biggest Coke-Mentos Explosion

About 1,500 students participated in a Mentos/Diet Coke demonstration in Leuven, Belgium. Each wore a blue poncho and added Mentos mints to a bottle of Diet Coke for a simultaneous explosion! A new world record was set.

---World Record for largest number of people dressed as Smurf

The city of Swansea was turned blue as a group of 2,510 people, the majority of whom were students from the local university, crammed into the Oceana nightclub to almost double the previous record.The event was organized by UK fancy dress costume seller Jokers' Masquerade and was not verified until every "Smurf" was checked to make sure no natural skin was showing.

---World Record for the largest mass arm wrestling contest

Over 200 people in London wrestled their way in to the Guinness World Record book for the largest mass arm wrestling contest.

---World Record for the most people inside a soap bubble

Dr Robyn Wheldon-Williams and his scientists successfully attempted the World record for the largest number of people enclosed in a bubble: 59 children, all over 5 foot at Venue Cymru, North Wales, UK. The bubble was made using a mixture of warm water, washing up liquid, glycerol and a secret ingredient.

---World Record for the largest mattress dominoes

This new unique world record for the largest mattress dominoes is still on the cards after staff at a furniture warehouse made a video of themselves playing mattress dominoes. The game sees dominoes substituted with mattresses and the addition of some willing participants. Staff at Bensons for Beds in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, set up a whopping 41 mattresses across their warehouse, with a person standing behind each one. The van doors close and the newly assembled bed and its occupants are driven off.

Julie Flitter, administration manager at Tewkesbury Home Distribution Centre contacted the Guinness Book of Records, and there was no official world record as yet - so they submitted details of their attempt and are just awaiting confirmation that they've set it.

---World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Waldo

At New Brunswick, N.J. 1,052 Rutgers students dressed (in red and white shirts and caps) as Waldo from the children's book series "Where's Waldo?" broke the record for the Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Waldo. The group was almost twice the size of the crowd of 577 that previously held the record.

---World Record for the largest bride parade

Dozens of women sporting full bridal regalia took part in a parade in Bucharest, to promote the institution of marriage in Romanian society-setting a new world record category for the Largest Bride Parade.

Organizers of the "Bride Parade" said they intend to promote marriage as a way of maintaining traditional family values in this Orthodox country. The atmosphere was celebratory as dozens of women dressed in various white dresses, veils and tiaras marched to the sounds of trumpeters playing wedding songs. Around 100 brides took part in the event.

Here is a nice way of scaring a man with commitment issues.

---World Record for the largest gathering of Santa Clauses

Despite cold weather and drizzling rain, over 14,200 people dressed as Santa Clauses paraded in Portugal's city of Porto, raising money for charity and setting the world record for the Largest Gathering Of Santa Clauses. Every Santa, or Pai Natal (Father Christmas) as he is known in Portugal, who took part in the parade donated 1 euro to buy presents for the needy children in Porto, Portugal's second-largest city.

---World Record for the Largest Gathering of ABBA Impersonators

Over 150 ABBA fans from across Europe dusted off their flares, and sang their way through a rousing rendition of Waterloo in London's Leicester Square-setting the world record for the Largest Gathering of ABBA Impersonators during an event organized by Betfair.

Is 8ft Zhao Liang The World's Tallest Man?

A Chinese man has become a contender for the title of the world's tallest man, after measuring in at more than 8ft.

Zhao Liang, 27, entered the Tianjin hospital for an operation to relieve pain from an old muscle tendon injury on his left foot. His height caused a stir among hospital staff who urged him to get measured properly.

They discovered that Mr Zhao is 8.07 ft tall (2.46m), making him 3.9 inches (10cm) taller than Bao Xishun, the current tallest man, who is 7.9ft (2.36m).

Mr Zhao, who lives in Henan province, had been training as a basketball player when he sustained the debilitating foot injury over a decade ago.

He was unemployed until 2006, when an art troupe in Jilin province enrolled him to perform magic tricks and play the saxophone and flute.

Mr Zhao's parents are of a more usual height, with his father measuring 5.9ft (1.8m) and his mother, 5.5 ft (1.68m).

Wang Keyun, Mr Zhao's mother, said he has a big appetite and can easily eat eight hamburger-sized steamed buns and three dishes for dinner.

"But I am so worried about his marriage, job and his health that my hair has turned white," she said.

Liu Yuchen, a surgeon at the hospital, declared the operation a success.

He said Mr Zhao will be able to walk normally two months after his surgery but advised against any intense physical exercise.

Dr Liu said he is in good health and has no complications related to his height.

Bao Xishun (known as the Mongolian mast) is currently recognised by the Guinness World Records as the world's tallest man.

Mr Zhao's height has not yet been independently verified by the Guinness judges, but doctors at Tianjin Anjie Hospital measured his height as part of a medical checkup under the glare of the media and he is now seeking official recognition.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

Shillong strums its way into Guinness

"1730 guitarist in Shillong strummed into a new world record"

Barely a year after drumming up a record with the largest percussion ensemble, Shillong strummed its way into Guinness World Records by assembling 1,730 guitarists to play the Bob Dylan classic Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door for over five minutes.

The audience roared in approval when police chief B.K. Dey Sawian announced that the Guinness-appointed adjudicator, Lapynshai Syiem, had endorsed the record.

“This is unbelievable. I am proud that my daughter was part of this,” said the father of the youngest of the guitarists, four-year-old Ashly Budnah from Malki.

There were just nine more guitarists in the ensemble than in the American group that held the previous world record. The magic number would have been 1,731 had one entry not been rejected on technical grounds. A source said the adjudicator had doubts about the permanent address of that guitarist.

The previous record was set at the Community America Ballpark in Kansas City on June 3, this year. The 1,721 guitarists who assembled there performed the Deep Purple rock anthem Smoke on the Water.

For Shillong, which has a clutch of bands that perform everything from pop and rock to soul and jazz, the two Guinness records in a year are a reaffirmation of its status as the hub of music in this part of the country.

Minister R.G. Lyngdoh, who can strum a few chords himself, was at the stadium to cheer the guitarists. “This is a proud moment for all of us in the Northeast and especially for the people of Shillong,” he said.

But since records are meant to be broken, Shillong’s joy could be short-lived. Musicians in London will attempt a new record for the most number of guitarists playing a song together on November 2.

Australians set beachside bikini record

More than 1,000 Australian women donned free bikinis on Sydney's Bondi Beach on Wednesday for a group photograph to win a spot in the Guinness World Book of Records.

"This was certainly one of the more spectacular world records that I've been invited to adjudicate on," said Chris Sheedy, a representative for Guinness World Records.

"As an Australian myself, it's logical that any record involving sun, sand and surf should be held in this country."

Bondi lifeguards turned their ocean-front headquarters into a dressing room to allow each woman to change into her bikini.

The skimpy swimwear made its debut in 1946.

Hoping it would be worn by beautiful "bombshells", the designers named it after Bikini Atoll, an atomic bomb test site in the Marshall Islands.

Source: theage.com.au

Most People Swimming one length in a 24 hour Relay

New Guinness World Record for Most People Swimming one length in a 24 hour Relay is set in Mallorca!

Previous Portuguese record of 2,889 is beaten in Palma.

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Most People Swimming one length in a 24 hour Relay.

Glamorous Palma de Mallorca was the location for a 24 hour attempt at breaking the record for most people swimming lengths in a relay. It was organised by the charity ‘Projecte Home Balears’ which is a large and successful organisation that helps people with drug-related problems rehabilitate their lives.

The charity chose this record as it would involve a huge range of people of all ages and backgrounds reflecting the variety of people that their charity helps. The attempt was at the large pool next to the Real Mallorca football stadium. The guidelines stated that the attempt must be in strict relay form, only one length at a time from each participant, this of course makes it a lot harder to get a huge total and meant that the event had to truly be over 24 hours. A strong total of 2,889 had already been set in Portugal in 2005.

The event was from 7pm to 7pm and by the time I arrived in Mallorca at Midnight they were easily over 1,500. They had already had a 4 year old and an 82 year old swim as well as several disabled people. At 5am there were to be fifty soldiers from the local army base swimming – this appeared to interest a lot of female attention at this ridiculous time in the morning ! As I arrived at the pool at 10.30am the total had got over 2,000 and it was clear by the crowds patiently queuing that the record should be broken well before 7pm. The monitoring and counting of each length was very strictly organised by the Mallorcan Swimming federation which helped enormously.

The exciting moment came at 4.07pm when a small boy jumped in to go for the 2,890th record breaking length. The crowd cheered him all the way and he was a superstar for the day as TV crews and photographers went to photograph him. I managed to get the certificate into his soggy hands before the cameras started rolling! The attempt continued right up until 7pm with a tiny little boy running down to the start at 6.56pm to get the very last length in which was great fun for the crowd (although he shouldn’t have been running by the pool of course!). He finished and we posed for lots of pictures and TV interviews and the world record belonged to Palma.

The event was tremendously well organised by the fantastic people at Projecte Home Balears. Bartholomew, Ulla, Paco and Mercedes all looked after me fantastically well and the swimming federation judged the event superbly. It was a great event that was full of genuine enthusiasm from all sorts of people that showed again that the publicity that Guinness World Records brings can make a very positive contribution to a very good cause.

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