Guinness World Records celebrates 70 years of inspirational triumphs

By Tom Bevan

Guinness World Records is celebrating 70 years by recognizing achievements - including the largest Spice Girls collection and fastest bumper car ever built.

The institution started with a pub question “What’s the fastest game bird in Europe?”, a query that inspired its first book, compiled in a room above a London gym and published on 27th August 1955.

That single volume sparked worldwide curiosity about extraordinary feats, and GWR has since authenticated thousands of records in sports, technology, the human body, super skills and collections.

To mark the moment, GWR are celebrating record-breaking achievements and milestone moments over the last seven decades, including a handful who have been positively impacted by record-breaking in their lives.

Among them is Liz West, an artist from Manchester, who has been collecting Spice Girls memorabilia since the band broke through in 1996 and holds the record for the largest haul.

Initially, Liz just collected albums, magazines and sticker books but after a year of chart successes, she started buying singles and masses of official merchandise.

Liz’s record was initially approved in 2011, with her extensive collection of Spice Girls memorabilia totalling 2066 pieces but has continued to build out her collection and on a recount this year she has more than doubled it with a total of 5,000.

Her career as a successful artist has some crossover with her collection, with her color palette being inspired by the Spice Girls’ era.
 
She said: “Holding the Guinness World Records title has allowed me to continue publicly exhibiting my collection nationally and internationally.

"In the early days of my career, my collection gave me the opportunity and ultimately allowed me to work full-time as an artist, which was always my dream.

"Being part of Guinness World Records' 70th anniversary celebrations is wonderful and a huge honor. To be chosen amongst all the records globally ever made is incredibly touching - Girl Power!”
 
Colin Furze, who lives in the UK, holds records for the fastest pram/stroller that reached a speed of 53.46mph and the fastest bumper car/dodgem that hit speeds of just over 100mph.

The self-taught inventor and engineer, known for his ambitious builds in his home workshop, has been a five-time Guinness World Records title holder and is the current holder of two titles,

He is recognized for bringing bold, unconventional ideas to life and said: “One of the things I always think is that a Guinness World Records title makes a project, no matter how crazy or weird, it kind of gives it a social relevance and people get behind you and want you to do well.

"I look at the certificates I’ve earned as achievements of the projects I have seen through from start to finish, I thought of it, planned it, built it, drove it and it became record-breaking."

Zaila Avant-Garde, 18, a student from Louisiana in the US, holds the record for the most bounce juggles in one minute with four basketballs with a total of 255

She began practicing these basketball tricks at age five and when she attempted the record titles at 13, the practice and skill shone through.

After breaking three record titles, she said “It’s empowering to know that you’ve just accomplished something that nobody else in the entire world has ever done before.”

Since breaking those GWR titles, Zaila says her life has “significantly changed.”

She added: “I was pretty much a random little kid in Louisiana who was a little known on Instagram for juggling basketballs and not much else. At that time, getting the record was simply a personal accomplishment of which I was deeply proud."
 
Since achieving her Guinness World Record titles, she has gone on to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee, become a New York Times bestselling author with her book “It’s Not Bragging If It’s True”, and was named Sports Illustrated Kids’ 2021 SportsKid of the Year.

She says that her GWR titles propelled her to achieve these milestones and she notes that being a record holder adds a “level of spiciness to my life story.”

Known as Spiderman to his friends and family, former American Ninja Warrior competitor Najee Richardson holds a total of five records for backflips and bar-to-wall swings.

Between years of gymnastics and strength training for the American Ninja Warrior obstacle course, he believed he had what it took to win multiple Guinness World Records titles.

His GWR titles are specific skills he utilizes in the course.

He added, “I think it's really cool just to set a goal for yourself, a seemingly impossible goal that you can set for yourself to achieve. Something that pushes you pass your limit and that you can become the very best version of yourself, whatever field you're in.

"I think having a Guinness World Records title as a motivation is cool, because you're doing something that no one else has ever done before and how many people can say that?”

Bryan Berg, also from the US, holds the record for the Tallest playing card structure - at 7.86 m high (25 ft 9 in).

The architect first entered the record books in 1992 and hasn’t stopped leveling up card stacking since.

Building every house of cards without glue, wiring, or metalwork, each record he’s achieved defies what was thought possible.
 
Bryan achieved the title eight times between 1992 and 2007, taking the title back twice within that time and reaching new heights with each build.

His grandfather taught him how to stack cards between matches at card tournaments at age eight. He was inspired to build bigger structures, which continues to fuel his creativity and love for the craft.  
 
He said: “The tallest playing card structure is a testament to a certain kind of engineering that I really enjoy, every card is a strategic placement based on how I want it to look or how it needs to work.

"Back in 1992, when I first achieved the record and got into the Guinness World Records book, it really paved the way for me to be able to basically spend my life doing what I love.

"I'm really honored to be a part of Guinness World Records' 70th anniversary, we’ve grown old together."

Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, Craig Glenday said: “As we mark the 70th anniversary of the release of our first edition back in the 1950s, we're proud to be building on 70 amazing years as the global curator of superlative facts and achievements.

"We've seen so many iconic moments, the most amazing feats of strength and skill and endurance from talent across the globe and long may it continue. We’re now looking forward and celebrating the current - and next - generation of record breakers.

"We want everyone to be part of it, whether that’s using our new record selector tool or having a go at one of our 70 unclaimed records, they are there for the taking."

To inspire the next wave of achievers, GWR has identified 70 unclaimed record titles that have never been set. These include the fastest 400m sack race, farthest distance to bounce a coin into a cup, farthest distance bottle flip, the fastest time to build a five-storey playing card pyramid and the most high fives in 30 seconds.

GWR is also launching the brand-new Record Selector, a short online quiz at guinnessworldrecords.com that will match personality types to record titles they could attempt.