The
house
of
cards
,
the
longest
tongue
,
and
of
course
,
the
man
:
these
are
among
the
thousands
records
logged
in
the
famous
Guinness
Book
of
Records
.
Created
in
1955
after
a
debate
concerning
Europe's
fastest
game
bird
,
what
began
as
a
marketing
tool
sold
to
pub
landlords
to
promote
Guinness
,
an
Irish
drink
,
became
the
bestselling
copyright
title
of
all
time
(
a
category
that
excludes
books
such
as
the
Bible
and
the
Koran
)
.
In
time
,
the
book
would
sell
120
million
copies
in
100
countries
?
quite
a
leap
from
humble
beginnings
In
its
early
years
,
the
book
set
its
sights
on
satisfying
man's
innate
curiosity
about
the
natural
world
around
him
.
Its
two
principal
fact
finders
,
twins
Norris
and
Ross
McWhirter
,
scoured
the
globe
to
collect
empirical
facts
.
It
was
their
task
to
find
and
document
aspects
of
life
that
can
be
sensed
or
observed
,
things
can
be
quantified
or
measured
.
But
not
just
any
things
.
They
were
only
interested
in
superlatives
:
the
biggest
and
the
best
.
It
was
during
this
period
that
some
of
the
hallmark
Guinness
Records
were
documented
,
answering
such
questions
as
"
What
is
the
brightest
star
?
"
and
"
What
is
the
biggest
spider
?
"
Once
aware
of
the
public's
thirst
for
such
knowledge
,
the
book's
authors
began
to
branch
out
to
cover
increasingly
obscure
,
little
-
known
facts
.
started
documenting
human
achievements
as
well
.
A
forerunner
for
reality
television
,
the
Guinness
Book
gave
people
a
chance
to
become
famous
for
accomplishing
eccentric
,
often
pointless
tasks
.
Records
were
set
1955
for
consuming
24
raw
eggs
in
14
minutes
and
in
1981
for
the
fastest
solving
of
a
Rubik's
Cube
(
which
took
a
mere
38
seconds
)
.
1979
a
man
yodeled
non
-
stop
for
and
a
quarter
hours
.
In
its
latest
incarnation
,
the
book
has
a
new
home
on
the
internet
.
No
longer
restricted
to
the
confines
of
physical
paper
,
the
Guinness
World
Records
website
contains
seemingly
innumerable
facts
concerning
such
topics
as
the
most
combustion
engine
,
or
the
world's
longest
train
.
What
is
striking
,
however
,
is
that
such
facts
are
found
sharing
a
page
with
the
record
of
the
heaviest
train
to
be
pulled
with
a
beard
.
While
there
is
no
denying
that
each
of
these
facts
has
its
own
,
individual
allure
,
the
represents
a
significant
deviation
from
the
education
-
oriented
facts
of
earlier
editions
.
Perhaps
there
is
useful
to
be
gleaned
regarding
the
tensile
strength
of
a
beard
,
but
this
seems
to
cater
to
an
audience
more
interested
in
seeking
entertainment
than
education
.
Originating
as
a
simple
bar
book
,
the
Guinness
Book
of
Records
has
evolved
over
decades
to
provide
insight
into
the
full
spectrum
of
modern
life
.
And
although
one
may
be
more
now
to
learn
about
the
human
mouth
than
the
number
of
casualties
in
a
single
battle
of
the
Civil
,
the
Guinness
World
Records
website
offers
a
telling
glimpse
into
the
future
of
fact
-
finding
and
recordrecording
.
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