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[[Image:Guinness World Records 2007.jpg|right|275px|thumb|Guinness World Records 2007 edition.]]
[[Image:Suntec City Mall, Dec 05.JPG|right|250px|thumb|[[Fountain of Wealth]] largest fountain in the world in [[Singapore]].]]
[[Image:Ironing guinness 0357.JPG|right|250px|thumb|Some world record attempts are more unusual than others. [[Suresh Joachim]], minutes away from breaking the [[ironing]] world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at [[Shoppers World, Brampton]].]]
[[Image:Toronto's CN Tower.jpg|right|250px|thumb|The [[CN Tower]] has been the [[world's tallest freestanding structure on land]] since its opening in 1976.]]
[[Image:Madonnact.JPG|right|250px|thumb|[[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] is the highest earning female singer of all time, according to the 2007 Guinness Book of Records.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=407501&in_page_id=1773 Queen of Pop Madonna crowned highest earning female singer on earth] [[Daily Mail]], 2006-09-28</ref>]]
'''''Guinness World Records''''', known until [[2000]] as '''''The Guinness Book of Records''''' (and in previous [[United States|U.S.]] editions '''''The Guinness Book of World Records'''''), is a [[reference book]] published annually, containing an internationally recognised collection of [[world record]]s, both human achievements and the extreme of the natural world. The book itself holds a world record, as the best-selling copyrighted series.<ref>Watson, Bruce. (August 2005). "World's Unlikeliest Bestseller". ''[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]'', pp. 76–81.</ref>
==Origins==
On [[10 November]] [[1951]], [[Hugh Beaver|Sir Hugh Beaver]], then the managing director of the [[St. James's Gate Brewery|Guinness Brewery]], went on a shooting party in [[Wexford Harbour|North Slob]], by the [[River Slaney]] in [[County Wexford]], [[Ireland]]. He became involved in an argument: which was the fastest game bird in [[Europe]], the [[Eurasian Golden Plover|golden plover]] or the [[grouse]]? That evening at Castlebridge House, he realized that it was impossible to confirm in reference books whether or not the golden plover was Europe's fastest game bird.<ref>[http://freespace.virgin.net/james.robertson/history2.htm Early history of Guinness World Records] - page 2</ref>
Beaver thought that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in the 81,400 pubs in Britain and in Ireland, but there was no book with which to settle arguments about records. He realised then that a book supplying the answers to this sort of question might prove popular. <!-- Reference at http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=15 unavailable -->
Beaver’s idea became reality when Guinness employee [[Christopher Chataway]] recommended University friends [[Norris McWhirter|Norris]] and [[Ross McWhirter]], who had been running a fact-finding agency in [[London]]. The brothers were commissioned to compile what became ''The Guinness Book of Records'' in August 1954. One thousand copies were printed and given away.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://spyhunter007.com/spy_guinness_book_history.htm|title=History of Guinness Book of Records|accessdate=2007-04-29}}</ref>
After founding the ''Guinness Book of Records'' at [[Fleet Street|107 Fleet Street]], the first 198 page edition was bound on [[27 August]] [[1955]] and went to the top of the British best seller lists by [[Christmas]]. "It was a marketing give away—it wasn't supposed to be a money maker," said Beaver. The following year it launched in the U.S., and it sold 70,000 copies.
After the book became a surprise hit, many further editions were printed, eventually settling into a pattern of one revision a year, published in October to coincide with Christmas sales. The McWhirters continued to publish it and related books for many years. Ross was [[assassination|assassinated]] by the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] in 1975. Both brothers had an encyclopedic memory — on the TV series ''[[Record Breakers]]'', based upon the book, they would take questions posed by children in the audience on various world records, and would usually be able to give the correct answer. Following [[Ross McWhirter#Death|McWhirter's assassination]], the feature was called "Norris on the Spot".
==Evolution==
Recent editions have focused on record feats by [[human]] competitors. Competitions range from obvious ones such as [[weightlifting]] to the more entertaining such as longest [[egg (biology)|egg]]-throwing distance or the number of [[hot dog]]s that can be consumed in ten minutes - although [[competitive eating|eating contest]] and [[Drinking game#World record|beer and alcohol consumption]] entries are no longer accepted, possibly for fear of [[litigation]]. Besides records about competitions, it contains such facts as the height of the [[list of tall men|tallest person]] ([[Robert Pershing Wadlow]]), the heaviest [[tumor]], the most poisonous plant, the shortest [[river]] ([[Roe River]]), the longest-running drama (''[[Guiding Light]]''), the longest serving members of a drama series ([[William Roache]] for [[Coronation Street]] in the UK, [[Kate Ritchie]] and [[Ray Meagher]] for [[Home and Away]] in Australia), the world's most successful salesman ([[Joe Girard]]) and the only brother and sister to have solo number one singles in UK chart history ([[Daniel Bedingfield|Daniel]] and [[Natasha Bedingfield]]).
Each edition contains a selection of the large set of records in the Guinness database, and the criteria for that choice have changed over the years.
The ousting of Norris McWhirter from his consulting role in 1995 and the subsequent decision by Diageo plc to sell the Guinness World Records brand have shifted it from a text-heavy reference book to a highly-illustrated, colourful product.
These changes have done no harm to its commercial success: the ''Guinness Book of Records'' is the world's most sold [[copyright]]ed book, thus earning it an entry within its own pages. A number of [[spin-off]] books and [[television]] series have also been produced. Again the emphasis in these shows has been on spectacular, entertaining stunts, rather than any aspiration to inform or educate. The Guinness World Record brand is now owned by [[HIT Entertainment]].
Guinness World Records do not monitor the category of 'Person with the most records' as this changes too frequently, and records that once existed may now have been 'rested' and therefore this would not be a fair category.
In 2005, Guinness designated [[9 November]] as ''International Guinness World Records Day'' to encourage breaking of world records; it was described as "phenomenally successful". The 2006 version was dubbed as, "the world’s biggest international event" with an estimated 100,000 people participating in over 10 countries. The promotion has earned Guinness a whopping 2,244 all-new valid records in 12 months, which is a 173% increase over the previous year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20061106005761&newsLang=en|title=Records Shatter Across the Globe in Honor of Guinness World Records Day 2006|accessdate=2007-04-29}}</ref>
In 2006, [[Michael Jackson]] visited the Guinness World Records office in London to collect 7 Official Records Certificates related to his successful career as a vocalist and song writer.<ref>http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/mediazone/pdfs/entertainment/061114_michael_jackson.pdf/</ref>
On [[9 January]] [[2007]] Guinness announced it was working with [[AskMeNow]] to offer mobile access to the Guinness World Records databases. Users can use [[short message service|SMS]] text messages to ask questions and the answers are sent back.
==Ethical issues==
[[Image:Guinness_Beer_Record.jpg|right|250px|thumb|[[Steven Petrosino]], drinking 500 ml beer in 0.4 seconds in June 1977.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beerrecord.com|title=World Speed Beer Drinking Record|accessdate=2007-04-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbX33Zkl9Nw|title=Video clip|accessdate=2007-04-29}}</ref> Guinness accepted only the record for one litre, but later dropped all beer and alcohol records from their compendium in 1991.]]
Several world records that were once included in the book have been removed for ethical reasons. By publishing world records in a category, the book may encourage others to try to beat that record, even at the expense of their own health and safety. For example, following publication of a "heaviest cat" record, many [[cat]] owners overfed their pets beyond the bounds of what was healthy{{Fact|date=February 2007}}, so entries such as these were removed. Likewise, records related to dangerous [[stunt]]s are often not published, for example those closely related to [[freediving]]. The Guinness Book also dropped records within their "eating and drinking records" section of Human Achievements in 1991 due to concerns that potential competitors could do harm to themselves and expose the publisher to potential [[lawsuit|litigation]]. These changes included the removal of all [[liquor]], [[wine]] and [[beer]] drinking records, along with other unusual records for consuming such unlikely things as bicycles and trees.<ref>Guinness Book of World Records 1990 edition, p. 464</ref>
Other records, such as [[sword swallowing]], were closed to further entry as the current holders had performed beyond what are considered safe human tolerance levels. There have been cases where closed records have been reopened. For example, the sword swallowing record was listed as closed in 1990 Guinness Book of World Records, but the ''[[Guinness World Records Primetime]]'' TV show, which started in 1998, accepted three sword swallowing challenges.
Chain letters are also not allowed. "Guinness World Records does not accept any records relating to chain letters, sent by post or e-mail. If you receive a letter or an e-mail, which may promise to publish the names of all those who send it on, please destroy it, it is a hoax. No matter if it says that Guinness World Records and the postal service are involved, they are not." (http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/member/faqs.aspx).
==Museums==
[[Image:6764 Guinness.JPG|left|thumb|200px|Guinness Museum in Hollywood.]]
In recent years the Guinness company has permitted the [[franchising]] of small [[museum]]s with displays based on the book, all currently (as of 2005) located in towns popular with tourists: [[Tokyo]], [[Surfers Paradise, Queensland|Surfers Paradise]], [[Copenhagen]], [[San Francisco]], [[San Antonio]], [[Niagara Falls, Ontario|Niagara Falls]], [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood]], [[Atlantic City]], [[Myrtle Beach, South Carolina]] and [[Gatlinburg, Tennessee]]. While some displays are dramatic, like the statues of the world's tallest and shortest people, or videos of records being broken, much of the information is presented simply with text and photos.
== See also ==
* [[Ashrita Furman]], who holds the record for the most Guinness World Records
* [[List of world records]]
* [[Ripley's Believe It or Not!]]
==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
</div>
==External links==
{{wikinews|category:World records|World records}}
{{wikinews|Fastest "zorb" ride set by New Zealanders}}
{{wikinews|Toronto and Rockettes kick into the records book}}
*[http://www.guinnessattractions.com/ Guinness World Attractions] (the official Museum website)
*[http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/ Guinness World Records] (the official Book website)
[[Category:1955 books]]
[[Category:Guinness World Record|Guinness World Record]]
[[Category:Reference works]]
[[Category:Entertainment companies of the United Kingdom]]
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