August 7, 2013

Record setters

You name it and there is probably a record for it ­– and, for many, the most coveted acknowledgment is to make it in the Guinness Book of World Records. In this post, the Big Picture looks at some record-setting attempts so far in 2013. -- Lloyd Young ( 25 photos total)

Dot Portnoy, 83, on vacation from Florida with her husband, dances while attempting to break the Guinness Book of World Records' record for "the most amount of people gathered in their underwear in the Times Square section of New York on Aug. 5, in NewYork City. Organizers were hoping to get 2,271 people to strip down to their underwear, the current record is 2,270. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

2

Professional slackliner Reinhard Kleindl walks a high wire in front of the Frankfurt skyline on May. Austrian Kleindl set a world record on Saturday by walking the highest urban high line at 185 meters (607 ft). (Ralph Orlowski/Reuters) #

3

Thousands of youths release into the sky paper lanterns to celebrate "World Peace Through Meditation" in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record Friday on May 24 at the University of the Philippines campus at Miagao, Iloilo city in central Philippines. The organizers claimed to have released 15,185 sky lanterns breaking the current Guinness World Record of 12,740 sky lanterns released in a single event. The old record in 2012, the 12,740 sky lanterns were released in a single event in Romania during the opening of a shopping mall. (Wanlop Kiettijanon/Middle Way Meditation Institute, Philippines via Associated Press) #

4

Inmates participate in a group work-out at the Lurigancho prison on the outskirts of Lima, Peru on June 14. Inmates are attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the largest group of prisoners working out at the same time. (Martin Mejia/Associated Press) #

5

Nearly 5,000 participants perform in a hula hoop competition to break the Guinness World Record for most people dancing with hula hoops, at Thammasat University, Pathumthani, Thailand, on Feb. 12. The Thai contestants celebrated in full swing after having set a new world record for the most people dancing with hula hoops simultaneously in one place. Guinness World Records adjudicator Seyda Subasi-Gemici said Tuesday that 4,483 people had swung hula hoops to dance music for seven minutes without interruption. (Sakchai Lalit/Associated Press) #

6

Workers carry Romania's national flag during a Guinness World Record attempt for the world's biggest national flag in Clinceni, near Bucharest on May 27. The flag, measuring 349.4 per 226.9 meters, established a new Guinness World Record. (Bogdan Cristel/Reuters) #

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An aerial view of Romania's national flag during a Guinness World Record attempt for the world's biggest national flag in Clinceni, near Bucharest. (Bogdan Cristel/Reuters) #

8

A mariachi singer celebrates with 599 other mariachi performers during an attempt to break the Guiness World Records title for the most mariachi musicians performing together on July 7 during half time of the Mexico vs Panama 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup Opener at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The previous world record is 555 mariachis and was set in 2010 by in Tucson, AZ. This record added 45 more mariachis for a total of 600. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Students take part in a record attempt with CPR dolls in Lingen, Germany, on June 18. Six hundred paramedic students took part in a record attempt on CPR dolls at the same time. (Friso Gentsch/European Pressphoto Agency) #

10

Chefs pose for a photograph at the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City, on March 16. According to the organizers, 2,340 chefs and sommeliers met during an attempt to beat the Guinness World Record of the largest gathering of chefs in one place. Dubai set the record in early January 2013 with around 2,847 participants. (Bernardo MontoyaReuters) #

11

Participants of the Dirndl world record attempt celebrate in Speyer, Germany, on July 13. During the pretzel feast the dirndl world record was broken with more than 1,900 people wearing traditional southern dress worn in Germany. (Uwe Anspach/European Pressphoto Agency) #

12

Canada's Brent Lakatos is kissed by his wife, British athlete Stefanie Reid, after setting a new world record to win the men's 100m T53 event during the London 'Anniversary Games' International Para Challenge athletics meeting at the Olympic Stadium, in east London on July 28. The venue is where the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were held one year ago. (Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters) #

13

Stirling Hart, right, from British Columbia, touches the top of the pole as he competes against Brian Bartow from Molalla, Oregon in the 90 foot open climb event during the Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin on July 27. Hart set a new world record in the climb. Over 100 competitors from around the world are competing in 21 events ranging from sawing and chopping to log rolling. (Eric Miller/Reuters) #

14

Sy Perlis, 91, hugs his wife, Joan, 69, after setting a new international record in the 90-and-over category for the bench press in Phoenix on June 8. Perlis, a 91-year-old Arizona weightlifter didn't just break a world record for the bench press, he powered through it by 52 pounds (23.5 kilograms). Sy Perlis set the record by benching 187.2 pounds (85 kilograms) at the National Bench Push-Pull Press and Dead Lift Championships on Saturday in Phoenix. (Patrick Breen/The Arizona Republic via Associated Press) #

15

Fans wear promotional "rally wigs" during the game between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on June 1 in Anaheim, California. The event was recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records for most people wearing rally wigs at the same time. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) #

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US surfer Garrett McNamara rides a wave off Praia do Norte beach in Nazare, Portugal, on Monday Jan. 28. McNamara is said to have broken his own world record for the largest wave surfed when he caught this wave reported to be around 100ft, off the coast of Nazare on Monday. If the claims are verified, it will mean that McNamara, who was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts but whose family moved to Hawaii's North Shore when he was aged 11, has beaten his previous record, which was also set at Nazare, of 23.77 meters (78 feet) in November 2011. (To Mane/Nazare Qualifica via Associated Press) #

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Participants get ready to apply facial masks on their faces in Taipei on July 28. Some 1,213 people reportedly broke the Guinness World Record by applying facial masks for 10 minutes at the same time in an event organized by a local face mask company. (Mandy Cheng/AFP/Getty Images) #

18

Volunteers plant mangrove trees, in an attempt to meet the target of planting 750,000 saplings in one day near the Arabian sea in Kharo Chhaan 225 kilometers (139 miles) south of Karachi, Pakistan, on June 22. Some 300 volunteers attempt to form a Guinness World Record for planting the most number of mangroves in a single day. The event organized by the Coastal Development Authority with collaboration of Sindh forest department and Asian Development Bank, local media reported. (Shakil Adil/Associated Press) #

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People line up the filling into a giant pillowcase during their attempt to create the world's largest pillow for the Guinness World Record in downtown Prilep, central Macedonia, on May 23. (Boris Grdanoski/Associated Press) #

20

Jerry Hall, center, is helped by members of his dive team as he surfaces from South Holston Lake near Bristol, Tenn., on Aug. 2. Hall set a new world record for the longest fresh water dive of six days, one hour and 42 minutes. (David Grace/Kingsport TImes-News via Associated Press) #

21

Mexican climber David Liano Gonzalez, center, talks to the media after he was felicitated with a Guinness World Record certificate that recognized him as the first person to scale Mount Everest from both the north and south sides in the same climbing season at a ceremony in Katmandu, Nepal, on May 30. Gonzalez scaled the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) mountain from Nepal on May 11 and again from the Tibetan side of the peak on May 19. (Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press) #

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Twenty-four sets of twins who are fifth-graders at Highcrest Middle School in Wilmette, Ill. are attempting to break a Guinness World record for the amount of twins in one grade which is currently sixteen sets. (Scott Eisen/Associated Press) #

23

French professional sailor Francis Joyon sails his trimaran IDEC in New York harbor in New York City on May 16. Joyon arrived in New York with his trimaran 'IDEC' as he waits for a weather window to challenge the solo trans-Atlantic record from New York to Cape Lizard, England. Joyon and IDEC, who hold the Single-Handed Round the World Record of 57 days, 13 hours and 34 minutes, will attempt to break the solo trans-Atlantic, held currently by fellow Frenchman Thomas Corville with 5 days, 19 hours and 20 second. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A record 566 employees gather at Sears corporate headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill. to break the Guinness World Record for most number of people dressed as Superman in one place, on June 5. (Ross Dettman/Associated Press for Sears) #

25

Hot-air balloons fly near a church over Chambley-Bussieres, eastern France, on July 31 at sunset, to try to set a world record with 408 balloons in the sky, as part of the yearly event "Lorraine Mondial Air Ballons", an international air-balloon meeting. (Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP/Getty Ima