A Record-Breaking Book

People have always been interested in knowing about unusual things. They are curious about the biggest, the smallest, the fastest, the slowest, the longest, the shortest, the oldest, and the youngest. Until 1955 no single reference book existed with comparative information on world records. The first book of this kind that appeared in the late fifties was the Guinness Book of World Records.

The idea for this book came from Hugh Beaver, who worked as an executive director with Arthur Guinness Son and Co., Ltd. One day, he and some of his friends went out to a golf course they had never been to. They all saw flocks of birds flying and Hugh suggested that those birds were probably the fastest birds in Britain. Several of his friends disagreed and they made a bet. However, when they tried to settle the bet by looking in various reference books, they found out that none of them contained the information they needed. As a result, Hugh decided that his company ought to put out a book which would contain all sorts of superlatives and world records.

High Beaver began to look for authors. Soon he heard of Norris and Ross McWhirter who had a small Facts and Figures Agency in London. They were involved in finding and checking facts for people and had a large collection of information from newspapers, magazines, reference books and other sources. Beaver interviewed the two brothers in order to test their knowledge of records and unusual facts. He found their knowledge amazing and offered them the job. On August 27, 1955 the Guinness Book of Superlatives went on sale in the bookshops. In four months it became a bestseller. Later, the name of the book was changed to the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Guinness Book of World Records has fascinated people ever since it first came out. The public continues to buy new versions of the book every year. In fact, since 1988, the book has had average sales of 60 million copies a year in 25 languages. This number equals 168 stacks of books each as tall as Mount Everest. Even today, this book continues to break its own record as the fastest-selling book in the world!