Can your tongue do this? Most of us have some little trick we can do with our body. . . . Maybe you can bend your thumb backward or touch your tongue to your nose. Maybe you can wiggle your ears!
But the people who have set Guinness World Records with their amazing bodies are in a whole other league. Read on to witness some of the wildest acts of strength, flexibility, and bravery you’ve ever dreamed of!
The most balloons inflated by the nose in one hour is 380, achieved by Ashrita Furman, at the Sri Chinmoy Centre in Queens, New York, on March 3, 2013.
The most fingers and toes on a living person is 28—14 fingers and 14 toes—which belong to Devendra Suthar from India, as verified in Himatnagar, Gujarat, India, on November 11, 2014. Devendra’s extra digits are caused by a condition known as polydactylism.
Linsey Lindberg shows no mercy when it comes to apples. Lindberg set the record for most apples crushed with the bicep in one minute by smashing 10 apples on the set of Lo Show dei Record in Milan, Italy, on July 3, 2014, beating her own record by two apples.
Like the mythical wizard Merlin, Preijesh Merlin of Kannur, India, performed a trick that seems like it must be magic! Setting a record for the most random objects memorized, Merlin recalled 470 random items in the order they were read to him on June 23, 2012.
A good memory is a wonderful thing! And Canadian Dave Farrow’s memory is better than good! After seeing them only once, Farrow memorized the order of 59 separate packs of cards, setting the record for the most decks of playing cards memorized in a single sighting. The attempt took 4 hours, 58 minutes, 20 seconds, not including breaks.
Super-bendy Leilani Franco from the Philippines and the UK is the world record holder for most full-body revolutions maintaining a chest stand, completing 29 in the 60-second time limit, on July 21, 2014.
FACT!
A chest stand is a position in which a person rests their body on the floor (facedown) and their legs bend over the head so that the feet rest on the floor in front of the face/head. In order to count as a full revolution, both legs must complete a 360-degree revolution around the body before returning to the original starting position.
Shristi Dharmendra Sharma of India was 10 years old when she achieved the lowest limbo skating over 10 meters (32 feet, 9.6 inches). Sharma limboed to a ground-scraping 6.5 inches in Nagpur, Maharashtra, India, on August 23, 2014.
Medvin Deva, also from India, went to even greater lengths to earn his record. He achieved the lowest limbo skating over 25 meters (82 feet), reaching as low as 9 inches off the ground at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium skating ring in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, on February 22, 2014.
The longest fingernails ever for a woman belonged to Lee Redmond. She started to grow them in 1979 and carefully tended them until they reached a total length of 28 feet, 4.5 inches. This record-setting length was officially measured on February 23, 2008.
Some people have more hair than others. On their knuckles, on their knees . . . even in their ears! The longest ear hair belongs to retired teacher Anthony Victor of India. It reaches 7.12 inches long!
The longest hair for a female is 18 feet, 6 inches long! This amazing head of hair belongs to Xie Qiuping of China, and was measured on May 8, 2004. How long would it take you to grow your hair that long? Xie Qiuping stopped cutting her hair in 1973 . . . when she was 13!
The world’s highest hairstyle is 8.73-plus feet tall and was created by several hairdressers on June 21, 2009. It was taller than just about every human being who ever lived! (Except, of course, the Guinness World Records holder of tallest man ever, who stood 8 feet, 11.1 inches tall.) The hairstyle was made with a mix of real and fake hair.
How much can one measly haircut possibly cost? A lot, it turns out! The most expensive haircut cost $16,420 on October 29, 2009. The barber was Stuart Phillips at the Stuart Phillips Salon in Covent Garden, London, UK. The record-breaking haircut package included a champagne lunch, a head and scalp massage, a selection of personalized hair products and treatments, a return limousine ride from the airport, and of course, the haircutting skills of Stuart Phillips himself. Beverley Lateo of Pisa, Italy, was the happy customer.
The fastest haircut is 49.76 seconds and was achieved by Roberto A. Gangale at Carlo’s Barbershop, in Broadview Heights, Ohio, on November 18, 2011. The speedy cut beat the previous record by more than five seconds and was performed on the mayor of Broadview Heights.
Sarwan Singh of Canada has a beard that’s taller than he is! It’s the longest beard on a living man, and it measures 8 feet, 2.5 inches. The first time Singh’s beard was measured it was 7 feet, 9 inches. Then, two years later in 2011, it was measured again and had grown nearly 6 inches!
The Marinelli bend position is a difficult feat, even for professional contortionists! Holding it for very long is really, really hard. But that didn’t stop Iona Luvsandorj of Mongolia from setting the record for longest time to hold the Marinelli bend position. She held it for 50 seconds.
And it didn’t stop Tsatsral Erdenebileg of Mongolia from breaking that record, on July 17, 2013! Erdenebileg held the Marinelli position for 4 minutes, 17 seconds.
The most electric fan blades stopped with the tongue is 32 and was achieved by Zoe Ellis, aka L’Amore, of Australia on July 11, 2014. Zoe used two fans—one in each hand—both of which were set at the highest speed. This record has subsequently been claimed by Ashrita Furman, who stopped 35 fans in one minute on August 14, 2014.
Here’s a record not everybody would want to achieve: the most clothespins clipped to the face in one minute! The winner of this painful contest is Silvio Sabba of Italy, who on December 27, 2012, clipped 51 clothespins to his face!