In August, the London-based Guinness World Records, known initially as the Guinness Book of Records, celebrated its 70th anniversary of cataloging record-breaking feats around the globe.
The idea for the book originated in the early 1950s, when Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of the U.K.’s Guinness Brewery, enlisted the services of twin-brother researchers Norris and Ross McWhirter to compile a collection of interesting facts and statistics. Intended as a promotional tool for Guinness, based on settling pub arguments, the book quickly grew in popularity, according to the World Records website.
On Aug. 27, 1955, Beaver and the McWhirter twins published the first edition of The Guinness Book of Records, which became an international bestseller and has since entertained readers worldwide…