Top 10 Most Difficult World Records to Beat
#10: Most Cockroaches Eaten in a Minute
Another Top 10 Most Dangerous World Records
For some records, we’re shocked that people even attempt them in the first place. That’s the case with this one, most cockroaches eaten in a minute. This stomach-turning feat was accomplished by Ken Edwards of Derbyshire, England. In 2001, Edwards consumed thirty-six cockroaches in sixty seconds. That’s about two-thirds of a cockroach every second. Yeah, we couldn’t do it. And if you had any doubt, he did it during a live TV broadcast on England’s morning news show, “The Big Breakfast.” We have to commend Edwards for his courage, icky as it may be. We’d be losing our lunch, err, breakfast.
#9: Most Lawsuits Filed
Top 20 Most Dangerous World Records
We’re not going to say anything bad about Jonathan Lee Riches, as we’d rather stay out of court. He seems to be after riches, publicity, or both. But there’s no denying he’s a fascinating individual. Riches apparently holds the record for most lawsuits filed, at more than 2,600. And the question isn’t who he’ll sue but who he won’t sue. Riches has sued everyone from Martha Stewart to George W. Bush. Oh, and he’s also sued inanimate objects, like the Eiffel Tower. In true Riches fashion, he reportedly sued the Guinness Book of World Records to have his name taken out from their book. However, a spokesperson denied Riches as ever being considered for inclusion. We have the perfect movie title: “A Boy Named Sue.”
#8: Most Decorated Olympian
The 10 Most Difficult Weapons to Master
Winning even one Olympic medal is a feat so great that most of us can only dream of it. Winning twenty-eight? Not even in your dreams. All-star swimmer Michael Phelps has the most medals of any Olympic athlete. Of Phelps’s twenty-eight medals, twenty-three of them are gold. Phelps won these medals at four different Olympic games, spanning 2004 to 2016. His focus and speed in competitions like the 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter individual medley are absolutely stunning, as are his completion times. For comparison, the second-place record holder is gymnast Larisa Latynina, with eighteen medals. Even if we got fourth place, we’d be telling people for the rest of our lives.
#7: Most Metal Eaten
Coolest Summer Music Festivals Around the World (2019)
When we describe something as “metal” we usually don’t mean it literally. But this is a special case. Michel Lotito, of Grenoble, France, was famous for eating things that tend to not be considered edible. And a lot of this was metal. Among Lotito’s peculiar diet were televisions, bicycles, and even an entire airplane. Lotito, who had reportedly eaten nearly nine tons of metal by 1997, had a condition that resulted in him craving non-foods. Lotito passed away from natural causes in 2007 at the age of fifty-seven. We just hope he was able to enjoy a satisfying final meal.
#6: Heaviest Weight Lifted by the Human Tongue
This one hurts to even think about. The record for the heaviest weight lifted by a human tongue was set by Thomas Blackthorne, who in 2022, managed to pull up nearly twenty-nine pounds using only his tongue. Blackthorne, who set the previous record in 2004, demonstrated his amazing tongue strength on an Italian TV program. Four weights were connected by a hook pierced into his tongue. Blackthorne managed to keep the weights up for more than five seconds without causing any damage to his tongue. We’d still make sure to put some ice on it afterwards.
#5: Longest Distance to Pull an Airplane
Top 10 Longest Battles in Human History
Most of us have trouble getting to the airport in time. Kevin Fast, a Canadian priest, managed to pull a 188-ton airplane twenty-eight feet. While Fast might not have been able to go particularly fast, the fact he was able to pull the plane even an inch is remarkable. To give you an idea of just how big the plane is, Fast pulled just over 416,000 pounds through sheer strength. And he claims that he could’ve gone even farther if not for having to stop at the finish line. We’re not sure what kind of faith it takes to haul an airplane like this. But we bet Fast has given some amazing sermons.
#4: Finding the World’s Biggest Diamond
Finding Your Comparative Advantage - Tip du Jour #1
Something weighing one-and-a-third pounds might not seem all that impressive. But when it comes to diamonds, it’s absolutely remarkable. The biggest diamond in recorded history is the Cullinan Diamond, named for Thomas Cullinan, owner of the South African diamond mine it was discovered in. In diamond terms, this jewel weighed an astonishing 3,106 carats uncut. Frederick Wells, the man who found it, initially thought it couldn’t possibly be an actual diamond due to its incredible size. Since then, the diamond has been cut into smaller gems, some of which are among the Crown Jewels of England and some of which are owned by Queen Elizabeth II. We certainly wouldn’t want to misplace these.
#3: The Oldest Person to Wing Walk
What If You Were the Only Person Who Knew the World Was Going To End? | Unveiled
Do you get tripped up by even a little bit of turbulence? Then you probably shouldn’t attempt wing walking, a daredevil pursuit that involves walking on airplane wings while they’re in flight. In the early 20th century, wing walkers, including Charles Lindbergh, drew scores of fascinated onlookers, both eager and fearful. In other words, this isn’t exactly something you’d want your grandfather doing. But British man Thomas Lackey refused to let age stereotypes stop him by becoming the world’s oldest wing walker. He had first set the age record in 2009 at age eighty-nine before breaking it on another four occasions. He set his final record in 2013 at ninety-three. Talk about flying high.
#2: World’s Richest Person (Adjusted)
Top 10 Richest Kids in the World
Money isn’t everything. But it’s definitely something. And after adjusting for inflation, we’d be very surprised if anyone ever manages to beat the record set by Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller. When converted to today’s dollars, Rockefeller’s net worth stands at an incredible $418 billion. For comparison, Elon Musk, the current record-holder for richest living person in the world, is worth roughly $300 billion. Though there might have been wealthier figures from centuries before Rockefeller’s time, the extent of his fortune is still astonishing. How do you think he acted when his friends asked to borrow a dollar?
#1: Most World Records
Top 10 Most Powerful Countries in the World in 2024
This is where things get really meta. Ashrita Furman is a man from Brooklyn who’s broken more Guinness world records than anyone else. By day, Furman works as a health food store manager. By other times of day, he’s breaking records such as “most sit-ups in an hour” and “running on stilts.” He’s accomplished these and others in countries around the world and has even helped to create many new records. While many of the more than 600 records reportedly set by Furman have been broken by others, we don’t expect anyone will ever be able to come close to this one. Furman and his accomplishments are truly one for the record books.
1
0
report
1
0
flagged
1
0
report
1
0
flagged
1
0
report