Guinness World Records 2013 Edition

Guinness World Records 2013 Edition

Guinness World Records, the global authority on record-breaking achievement, has unveiled its brand new 2013 edition of the famous Guinness World Records book in a global launch on September 13, 2012, with a variety of new features and records.

The latest edition of the world's best-selling copyright book, which was first published in 1955 and has sold over 120 million copies to date in over 100 countries, features:
Stunning New Record Holders – The book presents an incredible array of never-before-seen record holders, including the world's Tallest Dog (111cm at shoulders, 223cm standing on hind legs), Largest Biceps (64.77cm each), and Oldest Gymnast (86 years young). In addition it covers the all the superlatives achieved in Entertainment, Sport, Science & Engineering, Space and beyond!
Augmented Reality (AR)" Simply point your mobile device (Android, iPhone, iPad) to an AR-marked record on the page and it will come to life in a glorious 3D animation. Records include the Largest Shark, Shortest Man, Heaviest Spider and Smallest Helicopter
Info-graphics – A strip running down or across every page featuring illustrations of stats, facts and trivia, designed to engage the reader in a simple, friendly way, perfect for reluctant readers! The info-graphics contain cool information that's easy to digest and that adds even more value to the book.
The World Tour – A new chapter of the book allows you to explore our amazing planet, taking in recordbreaking sites, attractions and places of interest. Behold the world's Most Expensive Hotel Room in Switzerland; marvel at the Most Expensive Elephant Painting in Thailand; and admire the world's Largest Sandstone Monolith in Australia.
The Digital Bonus Chapter - The book will allow you to unlock an extra chapter exclusively available online. For the first time ever you'll get to see how the book is created; go behind the scenes at the GWR offices and meet the team behind the best-selling copyright book of all time. The bonus chapter will also update you on all the records broken at the London 2012 Games.

Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, Craig Glenday, said: "This year, we've been inspired by the themes of exploration and discovery – and by the outermost extremes of record breaking. The result is an unrivalled collection of world-record facts and feats that paints a picture of life on Earth and beyond. We're also very excited to have a new augmented reality feature which really brings the book to life."

A must-have for knowledge-seekers and aspiring record-breakers of all ages, Guinness World Records 2013 Edition.

Guinness World Records 2013 Edition
Pan Macmillan Australia
ISBN: 9781904994862
Price: $42.99

Interview with Chris Sheedy

Chris Sheedy, the Australian representative of Guinness World Records.

Question: Have you recently attended any record attempts?

Chris Sheedy: I was in Melbourne on the 14th of October for the Melbourne Marathon as there was a guy who attempted the Fasting Marathon Dressed as Mr Potato Head! It was funny and he said that he was running along and people beside him were saying 'I don't want to get beaten by a potato!" It was incredible as he actually ran a great time of 3 hours and 38 minutes and beat most of the other participants even though he was wearing a Mr Potato Head suit!

Question: Which new records featured in the Guinness World Records 2013 Edition where you most surprised by?

Chris Sheedy: There is no record at all that I'm not surprised by! The records that I see in Australia vary including the Largest Bikini Parade which was held in Surfer's Paradise in 2011 and had 357 women take part; those sorts of records are really great because you don't get that many people coming together, for anything unless it's a big sporting match.

The record that was most memorable for me features on page 10 of the Guinness World Records 2013 Edition and it is for the Largest Simultaneous Stretch which was held at the City2Surf in Sydney and nearly 21,000 people lined up, waiting to run the City2Surf and all were doing the exact same stretches – it was beautiful to watch as they were all leaning in the same directing stretching one of their arms over their head! That record was surprising in a lovely way, it was like art.

Steve Jacob's from the Today show broke a record for wearing 247 pairs of underpants, at the same time. It sounds silly but the record is amazing because once you get more than about 90 pairs of underpants, on your body, it starts to cut off the blood flow to your legs and becomes extremely painful! Steve Jacob suffered from when he got to about 90 pairs but he still managed to get up to 247 pairs of underpants and break the world record which is pretty impressive.


Question: Which record would you like to see broken for the 2014 Edition?

Chris Sheedy: The records that I love to see are classically Australian records because even though I work for Guinness World Records we have a lot of chats between staff members in different countries and we boast about the records that our country is breaking. Whenever Australia breaks a record, especially a specifically Australian record (like the Bikini Parade) then it gives me more to boast about to my colleagues (laughs)!

I'd like to see records like the Most People Barbequing at once or the Biggest Game of Beach Volleyball.

One memorable record for me was standing on the landing ramp at Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne when Robbie Maddison landed the World's Longest Motorcycle Jump with 106.98 metres. I'm always excited by records like that which are top 10 classic records!


Question: How often are Australians trying to break Guinness World Records?

Chris Sheedy: We probably receive 5,000 – 10,000 claims a year, from Australia, having said that approximately 96% of those claims are rejected for reasons including the fact that they don't break the current record. There are tens of thousands of Australians attempting records, every year.

At the State of Origin Game 2 in 2012 there was a record for the most people wearing blue wigs; there were 14,000 participants in the New South Wales crowd as there are a lot of people participating just in one record attempt.

Question: Can you share with us one of the longest held Guinness World Records?

Chris Sheedy: There is one record that we believe will never be broken which is the World's Tallest Ever Man as opposed to the tallest living man. Robert Wadlow was the tallest ever man and he stood at 8 ft 11.1 compared to that of the World's Current Tallest Man who is 8 ft 3. We suspect that Robert Wadlow's height was such a unique mix of biological abnormalities that there will probably never be a human being taller than him.