Unraveling the politics behind our rides
Not every world record is made to last. For decades, Guinness World Records has celebrated the most incredible, strange, and daring achievements, cementing them in history. Yet some records are no longer part of the official books and have been discontinued over the years. Whether due to safety concerns, controversy, or changes in societal norms, some discontinued records tell a fascinating story of how the world (and its limits) has evolved.
Curious? Click through this gallery to see some world records that have faded into obscurity and have been taken off the official list.
There are many environmental and public concerns when it comes to releasing balloons en masse. For this reason alone, Guinness World Records discontinued this particular category to make the world safer.
On September 27, 1986, approximately 1.5 million balloons were released over the city of Cleveland in an effort to break the world record. Although it was intended to be harmless, the balloons drifted back over the city and nearby Lake Erie, creating traffic disturbances and causing two boaters to drown.
This does sound like a rather strange world record, but there have been many controversial animal sports over the years that have been discontinued, all because of concerns over animal welfare. The last time this particular record appeared was in 2010.
This Guinness World Record was last recorded in 1996. Ultimately, the organization had to discontinue the category due to speed limits and laws. They couldn’t possibly be the cause of people breaking local speed ordinances just to achieve a record.
In case you didn’t know, yodeling is a type of singing that involves intense and rapid changes in pitch. Surprisingly, there was once a world record for this, but it has been discontinued. To this day, it is still unclear why.
People truly go to considerable lengths to win a world record. This particular category was discontinued because people kept over-feeding their animals in order to win. To date, the world’s heaviest pet was a cat named Himmy (not pictured), who was recorded to weigh 46 lbs 15 ½ oz (21.3 kg) in 1986.
This world record is probably rather self-explanatory. Guinness World Records discontinued the category due to health concerns. They didn’t want people starving themselves in the process of trying to win.
Excessive and over-indulgence was a world record for many years, but it brought up many health concerns in the process. In 1989, a total of 43 gluttony records were discontinued.
The only gluttony record to remain after 1989 was for the world’s greatest omnivore, Michel Lotito, who consumed all manner of items (including chandeliers, bicycles, and even television sets).
This is one of the only records that was discontinued for something other than health reasons. The category for the largest penny pyramid was heavily reliant on pennies, and shortages made it incredibly difficult to break the record.
This particular Guinness World Record was permanently discontinued because of wastefulness. The organization believed that record attempts involving food had to use it for the general consumption of humans, and not for wastage in a pie fight.
Rather laughably, the Guinness World Record for the longest kiss was also discontinued for one simple reason: the dangers of sleep deprivation. The last time the record appeared was in 2013.
This category of world records is also rather self-explanatory. There are considerable safety concerns involved in burying oneself for extended periods of time, and continuing the record would have meant condoning this behavior.
In 1998, a man named Geoff Smith remained buried alive for 147 days, beating his mother's 101-day stunt. Guinness World Records ended up denying the award for safety reasons.
Similar to the record for longest kiss, Guinness World Records had to discontinue this particular record due to health concerns over sleep deprivation. The category was also discontinued in 2013.
Drinking alcohol excessively certainly has nasty side effects, one of which would be alcohol poisoning. For health concerns, Guinness World Records stopped giving awards involving alcohol consumption.
The current record-holder for the most beer drunk in an hour is Jack Keyes, who drank 36 pints of beer in 60 minutes. The feat occurred in Northern Ireland in 1969, and Keyes was only 23 years old at the time.
This category of the world records is incredibly difficult to judge. Ultimately, the difficulty of tongue twisters is very subjective. The last time the record occurred was in 1974, when the world record-holder said, “The sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick.”
Interestingly, this category of the world records was discontinued due to fears of possibly overwhelming the postal service. Sending too many cards at once could be detrimental and have a cascading effect on others.
The current record-holder for this category is a British man named Craig Shergold. In his youth, Shergold was a brain cancer patient, and he received a record 350 million cards over his lifetime.
When this category was discontinued, Guinness World Records said that it was done for the sake of “guitar welfare.” The record was officially discontinued in 2021.
The last record-holder for the most guitars smashed is Matthew Bellamy of the English rock band Muse. While on tour in 2004, Bellamy wrecked 140 guitars.
Just like many other world records that have been discontinued, this particular category was stopped due to safety and environmental concerns. After all, releasing thousands of burning lanterns into the sky could truly have a catastrophic effect by possibly causing wildfires.
The biggest record of this category occurred in May 2013, when 15,185 sky lanterns were released in Iloilo City, Philippines, to promote world peace.
This record has too many variables to be considered a successful category. Not only is it ambiguous as to what the tweets should be about, but it is also very difficult to keep accurate track of the exact number of tweets released on the platform.
The most number of tweets ever recorded in a single second occurred on August 2, 2013, when Studio Ghibli released their film ‘Castle in the Sky’ on Japanese television. A total of 143,199 tweets were sent in a single second.
Although Guinness World Records awards records for the first person to ever achieve a perfect score in a game, they no longer monitor video game high scores. Historically, gaming records have been met with much controversy, since it is oftentimes easy to cheat.
Guinness World Records stopped awarding this category in 2006 because it was difficult to determine whether broken hair was reattached at any point. In order to ensure honesty, they would need to monitor the person at all times of the day, for years.
Sources: (Guinness World Records) (Mental Floss) (Cracked.com) (Grunge)
See also: The world’s hottest peppers, and where to eat them
Guinness World Records that have been discontinued
And it wasn’t always about health and safety
LIFESTYLE Curiosities
Not every world record is made to last. For decades, Guinness World Records has celebrated the most incredible, strange, and daring achievements, cementing them in history. Yet some records are no longer part of the official books and have been discontinued over the years. Whether due to safety concerns, controversy, or changes in societal norms, some discontinued records tell a fascinating story of how the world (and its limits) has evolved.
Curious? Click through this gallery to see some world records that have faded into obscurity and have been taken off the official list.