The Guinness Book of World Records was founded in 1954 in order to settle pub arguments. It's now a huge organization that keeps up with the biggest, fastest, oldest, and most outrageous extremes of all kinds. There are more records than ever, and they can be very specific, so earning one isn't as impossible as it used to be. But it's not all "achievements." There are also records that no one wants to be associated with.
You wouldn't want to be the record holder for the world's most fraudulent election, or the highest recorded blood alcohol level, or the biggest ever loss of personal wealth. There are records that are so dangerous that Guinness won't accept attempts to break them, like the biggest meal ever eaten. The record holder for that one wasn't even trying for the world record, and died because of it anyway. Read the details of five truly regrettable world records at Cracked.
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