
In this article:
- The Guiness Book of World Records contains over 40,000 different records, with new ones being added all the time.
- Some of them are your standard fare: the oldest person, the longest time spent holding one’s breath.
- These are not those records. These are the strangest guinness world records.
There are some records in the Guinness Book of World Records that are expected. Take the oldest person ever, for instance. Everyone wants to know how long the human body can possibly survive. Itโs a natural point of curiosity.
Jeanne Louise Calment lived to the age of 122 years old and appeared in a movie at the age of 114, making her also the worldโs oldest-ever film actress. Amazing!
Then thereโs the longest time anyoneโs ever held their breath voluntarily. Most people have gone in a pool and counted the seconds while they held their breath underwater. Naturally, we all want to know who can do this longer than anyone else. The answer is Budimir ล obat, who held his breath for 24 minutes and 37 seconds.ย
These are both records that might come into oneโs mind fairly easily. However, the Guinness World Records database has over 40,000 different records, so there are bound to be some pretty random ones in there. Even with so many, though, people are still coming up with strange and outrageous new Guinness World Records every single year.
Some of them are really, really weird. Here are the seven strangest Guinness World Records I could find.
Most Canned Drinks Opened by a Parrot in One Minute
The first time I read the title of this record, my brain couldnโt comprehend what this combination of words meant. I believe thatโs a testament to just how beautifully random this record is. Alright, most cans opened in a minute. That makes sense. But then you realize that itโs being done by a parrot and things start to break down logically.
As random and seemingly nonsensical as this record is, I have to admit that watching a parrot open soda cans with its beak is incredibly satisfying. And Zac the Macaw, the current record-holder, is absolutely adorable.
His record stands at 35 cans in one minute. I donโt think I could beat that, and I have arms and hands. This badass bird also holds other Guinness World Records as well, including most slam dunks performed by a parrot in one minute. A bird dunking wiffleballs into a miniature basketball hoop? Whatโs not to love?
Fastest Time To Crush Ten Watermelons With a Punch
Apparently, Fruit Ninja is not only a game you can get on the App Store, but a real competition thatโs dominated by a man named Ronald Sarchian. Ron is not only a watermelon-destroying machine, heโs also a personal trainer and motivational speaker.

By the way!
Did you know weโre launching a Kickstarter campaign? In the next few months, our campaign for โGentle Jack: The Party Game for Bad Friendsโ goes live! Visit the official website or follow the Kickstarter page to stay in the loop.
But, at his core, Ron was born to smash. Heโs smashed more watermelons with his hands than probably any other human alive and it took him only 5.91 seconds to smash 10 of them, setting a new Guinness World Record.ย
However, Ronaldโs smashing abilities arenโt reserved exclusively for watermelons. Heโs also set Guinness World Records for the most eggs crushed with a punch in one minute (he crushed 334) and most squashes squashed in one minute.
This guy has a serious vendetta against food. Or maybe he just really loves setting world records with his fists. Itโs this desire and determination that has earned him the name World Record Ron.ย
Smallest Wooden Spoon
Thereโs a general trend among Guinness World Records in which people set out to make the smallest of any one thing. Thereโs a record for the smallest working cannon, the smallest copy of the Quran, and the smallest map of the Western hemisphere (which was actually made from atoms using sudden electrical pulses).
However, my personal favorite is the smallest wooden spoon, which was created by Shreeya Bhave.

Shreeya is a lovely young woman from India who has a passion for building miniature models and crafts. When asked about her achievement, she said it was a โresult of hard work, support, sacrifices made by my parents, teachers, and my elder sister Aishwarya.โ
Every single aspect of this story is super cute, not the least of which is that adorable miniature wooden spoon. The spoon was only 2.5 millimeters long. Thatโs about the width of a strand of pasta.
Largest Surgical Mask
Now, hereโs a record that no one asked for. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, Motex Healthcare Corp out of Changhua, Taiwan, China decided to devote their time and effort to creating the worldโs largest surgical mask.
Is it pretty cool that they were able to make a large-scale replica of their most popular product with an area of over 427 square feet? I suppose so. Would the resources that went into breaking this record have been better spent on making masks for average-sized humans? Definitely.

Perhaps, though, this Guinness World Record effort was made as an attempt to bring a little joy to the employees of the company, who have undoubtedly been working overtime and trying to provide the world with masks. I suppose thereโs nothing wrong with providing our frontline workers with a little entertainment.
Longest Duration Spinning a Basketball on a Guitar
This is another one that my brain has trouble wrapping itself around. Why should there be a separate record for spinning a basketball on oneโs finger (which is 11 minutes and 22 seconds) and for spinning a basketball on a guitar?
When you search โspinning a basketballโ in the Guinness World Records database, things go a whole lot deeper. There are world records for spinning a basketball on a toothbrush, spinning a basketball while riding a pogo stick, and spinning a basketball while surfing, among many others.
Anyway, the Guinness World Record for spinning a basketball on a guitar is 32.46 seconds, which is certainly impressive. Iโm just confused about how Bernie Boehm, the record-holder, conceived the idea to do this. Maybe he saw a basketball and a guitar sitting next to each other in his apartment and thought, Hey, I wonder if thereโs a world record for that yet.
Longest Time to Balance a Hula Hoop on the Head While Swimming
Similar to the last Guinness World Record, this one involves combining two things that have nothing to do with each other whatsoever? Balancing a hula hoop on your head and swimming at the same time? This sounds like a game that was thought up by two 12-year-olds on a boring summer day.
David Rush balanced a hula hoop on his head for 16 minutes and 13 seconds while swimming in the pool at Boise State University Rec Center. Honestly, that is an extremely impressive feat. Is there any practical reason why someone should spend their time trying to set this record? No, there is not. But not everything has to be practical to be totally awesome.
Most Swords Swallowed Underwater
Apparently, swallowing swords wasnโt extreme enough for Chayne Hultgren, an Australian-born street performer nicknamed Space Cowboy. He decided to take his talents underwater and see how many swords he could swallow while submerged.
The Guinness World Record he set was four swords, which may not seem all that amazing, but Iโd like to see you try to beat it. Wait. No. Do not attempt to swallow swords underwater. Or, for that matter, above the water.
Space Cowboy performs many other insane acts that are worth searching for online. Heโs been known to juggle chainsaws and machetes while riding a 10-foot-tall unicycle. Heโs also been seen driving nails into his own nose and inserting fishhooks into his own eyelids. Itโs a questionable lifestyle that Chayne Hultgren leads, but at least he got a Guinness World Record out of it.