Top 10 Bizarre World Records
Published on November 2, 2008 - 57 Comments
Before the Guinness Book of World records took on the format of a coffee table book, I used to read it cover to cover every year. Back then the categories seemed to be pretty straight forward. Tallest, shortest, heaviest, fastest etc. Now it seems many categories are a little contrived just to keep the book fresh and different. However I do have to admit some are quite interesting to watch. So here is a list of 10 world records that are different and entertaining.
I’m putting this at the number 10 spot just to get it out of the way. This guy lays down in a glass coffin while people pour a record amount of cockroaches on him. It is simply astonishing what people will do to get mentioned in a book.
I know this is a terrible transition - going from cockroaches to French kissing - but I couldn’t rate this any better than 9 because it really didn’t take a lot of talent to accomplish, just good organization skills as well as being fearless to the possibility of getting mono or worse. Talk about swapping spit.
This guy does 124 head spins with no hands break dance style. Tylenol anyone?
These guys take their slam dunks off of a trampoline distance records very seriously.
I think this might be a case of taking a neat stunt and trying to turn it into a world record of some kind. Nevertheless it’s fun to watch plus it is replayed from every angle known to man.
Ok, I admit this is not the most exciting clip in the world to watch but I think it is the most incredible feat on the list. This guy’s name is Fred Newman, he is 60 years old, and in this clip he sinks 209 three pointers in a row! Apparently he’s also made 1,000 free throws in a row and he’s made 88 in a row blindfolded. VIEWING TIP: The first basket looks pretty much like the other 208. So I would suggest after watching the first few baskets fast forward it to the end of the clip so you can see him miss on the 210th shot. He seems dumbfounded.
I thought this was pretty incredible especially when you consider the fact that it takes me two days just to repair some shingles on my roof. In this world record, Habitat for Humanity builds a house including landscaping in just over 3 hours.
In this clip we see Adam Lopez - an Australian. He sings a note higher than D7 (the highest note on a piano). The host of the show actually asks this guy if he still has his testicles.
I was going to avoid your typical skydiving world records on this list where a bunch of people jump out of a plane and fly in some kind of formation. This however is quite different. This is called “Freeflying.” Instead of falling belly to earth as an average skydiver would do these people fall vertically. It really has an eerie look to it. In some of the camera angles it looks like you are walking in on a ghostly party gathering. When falling this way it increases the freefall speed so since most parachutes are not designed to be opened at these speeds freeflyers must transition back to the belly to earth position and slow down their descent for several seconds before deploying their parachute. This was a world record for largest Vertical Formation and was set on August 3, 2007 over Chicago.
Terminal 4 at JFK International Airport was the unlikely location for 21-time Guinness record holder Ashrita Furman’s latest attempt to make history. Furman was attempting to break the Guinness record of 29 minutes for rolling an orange with his nose for one mile. Although rolling an orange with ones nose may look amusing, getting in record-setting form is serious business, said Furman. “It’s down to 29 minutes for the mile and it’s actually very fast, it’s a very intense record and so it’s a challenge to me even though it’s silly so hopefully it’ll work out.” After 24 minutes and 34 seconds, the orange and then Furman entered the record books, squashing the old record by over 3 minutes. It was the first for the orange, but Furman’s 87th time in the Guinness book.
Contributor: blogball
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1. Spinner - November 3rd, 2008 at 1:27 am
There’s one hell of a contest for the dumbest world records. But I guess the word ‘ bizarre ‘ leaves it open for some seriously subjective banter!!
2. Smurff 2 - November 3rd, 2008 at 1:46 am
Good list blogball.
3. Frank - November 3rd, 2008 at 1:48 am
Actually I would say the most bizzare one is the record for most held world records. Which I am guessing number one is hoping to break.
4. whitewolf - November 3rd, 2008 at 2:02 am
haha rolling an orange with your nose haha
that is realy funny
love the list nice work
5. Rina - November 3rd, 2008 at 2:18 am
Wow! I want to try that orange roll sometime. But I want to be the orange.
6. McSquida - November 3rd, 2008 at 2:18 am
Interesting bit of trivia - the host in #3 is a TV weatherman, but he also holds a bunch of world records (like 7 or 8). He was badly injured in a monster truck accident a couple months back though and isn’t on TV at the moment.
7. ZedroZ - November 3rd, 2008 at 3:09 am
Ha ha,
Pretty amazing really what some people will do.
What about the guy who got in for attaching to most number of clothes pegs to his face? Not really a skill though is it?
All you would have to do to beat him is have a bigger face…
Great list though Blogball
8. 3000 - November 3rd, 2008 at 3:19 am
“All you would have to do to beat him is have a bigger face…”
And an even smaller brain.
9. ZedroZ - November 3rd, 2008 at 3:24 am
You read my mind
10. LemonKiwi - November 3rd, 2008 at 4:07 am
Can you imagine doing #10? Ew! That man probably felt like he had bugs crawling on him for days after doing the stunt. I got the heebie jeebies just reading about it.
11. 80s - November 3rd, 2008 at 4:18 am
Looking at #4, is it any wonder that houses just blow away next time a storm comes rolling through town? I’d rather invest in bricks and mortar than be forever rebuilding.
12. ohrmets - November 3rd, 2008 at 6:18 am
I’m pretty sure I would reservations about living in a house that was built in 3 hours.
13. jajdude - November 3rd, 2008 at 6:53 am
Somniferous guns on the list, g. What about long-distance pizza delivery? From S. Africa to Australia I think it was.
I like pizza.
14. Freeze - November 3rd, 2008 at 7:25 am
Cool list wouldn’t say that there bizare records
15. DiscHuker - November 3rd, 2008 at 7:48 am
i don’t see how that head spin record is real. just the momentum necessary to stay vertical for that long would be tremendous. if it is, wow!
the house record is a little spurious in that loads of that stuff was pre-cut. the walls already had the dry wall on it for crying out loud. i wonder how many hours of prep went into that “3 hour” build.
16. thewebpromoter - November 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 am
wohow, this is really bizarre…
17. Kreachure - November 3rd, 2008 at 8:32 am
Awesome list! Very funny and fun records.
Well, except for #1, which I find pretty stupid.
So, what’s the record for tangerines? Lemons? Bananas?
18. segue - November 3rd, 2008 at 8:36 am
I’ve loved the Guinness Book of World Records since I was a kid, too. It was like an encyclopedia of the rare. Tallest human. Shortest human. Heaviest human. Thinnest human. Biggest cheddar cheese. Most intricate scale model of Westminster Abbey made entirely of matchsticks.
Then they started to include categories I came to call “Stupid Things People Do”; pie eating, hot dog eating, pulling trains, rolling oranges with their noses, and the book became incredibly dull.
I loved finding the rarest fish. I couldn’t care less about people jumping out of planes.
That’s just me. The book is still amazingly popular. In fact it’s *more* popular now than it was when it was pure.
19. warningdontreadthis - November 3rd, 2008 at 9:17 am
This such a typical Blogball list. : )
20. Cubone - November 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 am
That skydiving video frightened me.
21. smurff - November 3rd, 2008 at 9:44 am
# 10 cockroaches its enough to give most people the heeby geebies . All those creepy crawlies trying to get into your ears, eyes and mouth ugh ! It seems he had a pair of tight fitting shorts on - or there could have been some other problems.
I wonder where all the roaches came from.
Awesome list thanks blogball.
22. Christine - November 3rd, 2008 at 9:47 am
Strange… pretty soon the guiness world records book is going to be so big, it’ll take a whole tree to make one book. That house built in 3 hours is pretty impressive though! Nice list =).
23. BooRadley - November 3rd, 2008 at 10:17 am
Does anyone know who did the song used in the Freeflying video? I really liked it. (the video AND the song…)
24. Blogball - November 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 am
Wow what’s really bizarre is I was just getting ready to submit a list that I have been working on and this one that I submitted quite a while ago greeted me this morning. I thought for sure it ended up on the cutting room floor.
Anyway thanks for the comments everybody. I do agree with segue concerning the old books purity of world records. I wish they would have stuck with old format and made the coffee table book just for records like the ones on the list.
Also speaking of the cutting room floor, one of the funniest show biz jokes I heard was an actor complaining that he has so many scenes that have been cut from movies that he gets fan mail from mice.
25. Vera Lynn - November 3rd, 2008 at 10:49 am
I can’t get the videos at work. Argh!! That’s what I get for playing at work. Very cool list though just to read.
26. warrrreagl - November 3rd, 2008 at 10:49 am
One tiny correction for Adam Lopez. The note that they reference as D7 is the highest “D” on the piano, not the highest total note. The actual highest note on a piano is C8, and Adam hits C#8 which is one half-step higher than C8. The frequency for this pitch is roughly 5,000 Hz and the human ear can hear as high as 20,000 Hz. Since frequencies double every octave, your ears could actually hear a note two full octaves than the on Adam sings.
27. Ravyn - November 3rd, 2008 at 10:50 am
Habitat for Humanity was in my neighborhood last year. They built 6 or 7 houses on one side of a street. Had the houses built and the families moved in in about a week maybe a little over. The houses are actually really nice and well built (which might not go to say for the 3 hours house, does it even have electricity?)
28. icarusfoundyou - November 3rd, 2008 at 11:15 am
I am actually gob smacked and jaw-to-the-floor after watching #3
jeeeeesus
29. Inhabia - November 3rd, 2008 at 12:06 pm
What about the most syllables per minute record that was fun
30. bigski - November 3rd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I totally agree with segue,I use to do the same thing.I have several old GBWR I enjoyed. Now it`s got out of hand,not to take any thing away from video list it was kind of creepy but cool.
31. The Dude - November 3rd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
wow, that guy rolling the orange is an uber loser. i think ill roll an apple for a mile and get in the good book.
32. Emar - November 3rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Its tiring read people purposely make the longest sandwiches, biggest flag, tallest cake and does foolish things just to be in the book. I remember a joke about the contest on the longest “you know what”:)
33. Sedulous - November 3rd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Little known fact: The head spin guy, also holds the record for Dizziest Human ALIVE!
34. Brickhouse - November 3rd, 2008 at 2:18 pm
The Dude: It would be much harder to roll an apple. But then we are comparing apples to oranges… (bada bum!)
Seriously folks - Sooo many of the records are pointless. I like the freefalling one, but I still don’t consider it a feat. I suppose I’ve got a different view - the records for one person to do something are feats. Like the three-pointers or no-hands head-spinning could even be considered a feat. But french kissing? And how many cockroaches you can engulf yourself in? Seriously? Those are just dumb.
I think this list is more of a top ten of video-recorded records. I’m sure there are much more bizarre records that aren’t on YouTube.
All that said - it was a fun list to read & watch.
35. goof_ball - November 3rd, 2008 at 4:29 pm
i always love funky stuff like this
36. macabresoren - November 3rd, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Wow, #2 is so awesome to watch. I was a little disappointed by #1… It’s bizarre, yeah, but kinda boring.
37. Paulb - November 3rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
holy fudge, draft Fred Newman into the Lakers
38. Riya B. - November 3rd, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Interesting list,and my IQ has just been raised…
39. Precision - November 3rd, 2008 at 6:03 pm
I agree with a few others in this list that think Guiness “World Records” are losing more and more credibility as the years go by. They really need to cap the number of records instead of introducing new and increasingly stupid ones. Some people get in just because they are the only person to ever attempt a particular “feat”!
Overheard conversation:
1: “I’m in the Guiness Book of World Records”
2: “Wow that’s pretty amazing”
1: “Yeah, i’m the only person in the world to ride the world’s largest unicycle a distance of 18km upside down, backwards, with 45 ping pong balls in my mouth, playing the complete works of Andrew Lloyd Webber on recorder with my nose, and knitting a scale model of the Sydney Opera House.”
Actually that probably deserves to be in there, but you get the point
40. LMXV - November 3rd, 2008 at 6:15 pm
The motorcycle jump for me was the most amazing.
41. Wag - November 3rd, 2008 at 6:49 pm
I used to work for a guy who showed us the 3-hour house video in a staff meeting, apparently to show the unmotivated masses (us) that “nothing is impossible.” He got angry when we pointed out that they had months of planning and almost unlimited staff and resources…
I don’t work there anymore.
42. Blogball - November 3rd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Precision, that was great! Actually I was in that same competition but lost. I had 46 ping pong balls in my mouth but two popped out when I was knitting the scale model of the Sydney Opera House.
But wait till next year.
43. Vera Lynn - November 3rd, 2008 at 8:37 pm
DiscHuker (15)
I agree with you about the house. There must have been 100s of hours of prep.
But the spinning? Compare it to the momentum of ice-skaters. He used his arms and legs the same way to sustain the rotation. I get it.
44. Vera Lynn - November 3rd, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Precision (39)
Made me laugh just when I needed to most. Thank you.
Blogball (42)
You guys are too funny!
45. Mom424 - November 4th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Good job Blogball, I like all your lists; I think we have a similar world view. I appreciate your humour.
I thought the vertical free fall was very cool. Creepy looking even. I too liked the tune that accompanied that video, any idea who it is?
I agree with all those who mentioned the stupidity of the current GBWR. I wonder if there is a category for most curse words uttered at your kids in a 24 hour period?
46. Pwinter713 - November 4th, 2008 at 9:14 am
#7 The slam dunk….
Thank god they had that HUGE arrow on the floor so he knew which way to go.
47. rpresto - November 4th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
best list ever!
48. andyMc - November 4th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Tits..
Tits again…
made me chuckle.
great list
49. Rennix - November 4th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Lol only an Asian would think of something as crazy as rolling an orange with his nose.
50. Pirate101 - November 4th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
The song was Anema by Tool
Good list BTW
51. Quizical - November 4th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
How about the most fingers on one hand without exceeding five? I win!
52. BooRadley - November 4th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Pirate101 (50)
Thanks for naming that tune!
53. Huh? - November 5th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
HELL NO! To the French kissing. I rather sit in that tub of roaches then to swap spit. The last person gets a doozy.
54. Precision - November 5th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
To Huh? (#53) - You think that’s bad (and I agree for the record)…I seem to recall some media coverage about a woman that was attempting to break (or create?) a record for having sex with x number of people in y amount of time.
(insert your own dirty joke here)
I would do a quick search to provide more info but I’m at work now and I’m a bit scared about what results I would get if I googled “world record for sex with most number of people”
55. suzi - November 6th, 2008 at 1:08 am
RE: #53. Totally, I found the cockroaches less revolting than the French Kissing.
56. nahhna - November 10th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
well the last one well number one it wasnt that amazing like couldnt anyone do that????
YEA!
woopdidy freakin doo!
57. timmy the dying boy - November 23rd, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Good Lord, nearly every one of those three-pointers didn’t even touch the rim.