0

& Archives Edward Meyer

Executive VP Norm Deska

0 (
VP, Exhibits

Publisher Anne Marshall

&
Editorial Director Rebecca Miles

Senior Researcher Picture Manager James Proud

Researcher Lucas Stram

Assistant Editor Charlotte Howell

Additional Research Rosie Alexander

Text GeoffTibballs

Additional Text James Proud

Editors Judy Barratt, Sally McFall

Factchecker Alex Bazlinton

Indexer Hilary Bird

Art Director Sam South

Design Dynamo Design

Reprographics Juice Creative

Copyright© 2012 by Ripley Entertainment, Inc.

All rights reserved. Ripley's, Believe It or Not!, and Ripley's Believe It or Not!

are registered trademarks of Ripley Entertainment Inc.

ISBN: 978-1-60991-032-7

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted is available.
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

While every effort has been made to verify

photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written PUBLISHER'S NOTE
permission from the publisher.
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errors contained in the work. They would be
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glad to receive any information from readers.
Suite 188, 7576 Kingspointe Parkway
Orlando, Florida 32819
WARNING
Some of the stunts and activities in this book
Email: [email protected]
are undertaken by experts and should not be
attempted by anyone without adequate training
Manufactured in China
and supervision.
in May/2012 by Leo Paper
1st printing
0
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a Jim attison Co pau

FEATURING
Voodoo customs • Lechon Pig Parade,
where whole roasted pigs parade i n
fa ncy dress • The Ca lifornian aircraft
plant ca m o uflaged d u ring the war •
A fiery fo l k festival in Kyrgyzsta n

· · • -! -·-· • -·--· . .
• • • • • • • • • •
- - -
FEATURING
extras • The awesome
I nflatable dummy movie

1 2-necked g u ita r • A

The Smurfs movie • The

village painted blue for

breathta king hair dress

FEATURING
Ta les from the Titanic • A

• The ta n k that sq uashed

crushed Ferra ri coffee table

an i l legally parked car •

An alien bike
J osh ua Carter's hypermobile shoulders

Jewelry made from h u ma n bones •

• The eye-po pping brothers •

"Bagel head" body modifi cation craze

FEATURING
fried d u ck tong ues • U n usual
Reci pes fo r bat so u p and

delicacies from a ro u n d the

and jellied moose n ose •

world, such as steamed rats

The d ress made fro m

an octo pus

• • • • •
• • • • • • • •• • •
• • • • • • • • •I
•• • • • •
 • • • • •
• II • •
• •• • • •
• • • • •
• • • • ••• . ...... . . ··-� �- •• • • • • . ·
A TYPICAL DINNER REQUIRES COOKING 30 WHOLE CHICKENS, PEELING 132 LB
(60 KG) OF POTATOES AND BOILING 220 LB (100 KG) OF RICE
 ��P�o/.s -
ww!��!t��k��!.®lll

/
Zion a Chana/ 671 is head of the world s largest family-consisting
of 39 wives/ 94 children/ 33 grandchildren and 1 4 daughters­
in-law. They all live in a rambling four-story house in a hill
village in the I ndian state of Mizoram/ where Ziona is head of a
religious sect that allows members to take as many wives as they
want. While he has his own double bed/ his wives sleep in giant
communal dormitories/ the youngest women sleeping closyest to his
bedroom. His oldest wife/ Zathiangi, organizes' the other wives to
carry out the daily household chores so that the compound is run
with military precision. The house even has its own school/ as well as
a vegetable garden big enough to feed the entire extended family.
 SWEATY RO BOTS
U . K. d esigner Kevin Gre n n a n has created robots with sweaty
a rm pits. He h as a u g mented three existing robots with "sweat
g la nds" made from J a pa nese a rtifi cial sweat, a product used to test
fabrics for sweat stains. I n response to a chemical sti m u l us, each
robot targets a specific form of h u man su bconscious behavior-fear,
focus and trust-to improve its effectiveness .

•
 vintel
ongt.i �t o
3\l �eo ts �ong tll _q
f e i o \ li
1 liu .m)
fot ov et ull i n g '3-\l
os b een 11 mes ev en
tllino 1 \l n o s e1 som eli
t ougll \lis . \\is
using \VIO
snokes lll k e s si m u lloneousl�
sno n lle
o m e n l tom e wh e
e!'ling m 1\le snok
esl
mosl unn & o n e o\
we
ll� sw ol\o omo tll
qtti&enlo u il &i e & in \lis sl
\ ot li o t m.
bul \u tkil� ul & to u se on� ll
to
lle\ ot e il

m ROBOT SAFETY Robot-driven cars created

by the software company Google have traveled
more than 140,000 mi (224,000 km) on U.S.
streets with only a single accident. The cars
use artificial-intelligence software that can
sense anything near the vehicle and mimic the
decisions made by a human driver. Engineers
say that robot drivers react faster than humans,
have 36o-degree perception and do not get
distracted, sleepy or intoxicated.

m S I N G I N G i1 1CE Japanese scientists have

created mice th at can sing. By tinkering with
a mouse's DNA so that it randomly mutated,
they have managed to develop more than 100

In May 2011, a visitor to Boijmans van

Beuningen museum in Rotterdam, the
Netherlands, accidentally trod in an artwork
made of peanut butter. He absentmindedly
wandered onto Peanut Butter Platform, a piece
by Dutch artist Wim T. Schippers that was
acquired by the museum in December 2010.
It features 290 gal (1,100 l) of peanut butter­
enough to fill more than 2,ooo regular-sized jars.
 A risky re medy has rece ntly
grown i n popula rity i n West J ava,
I ndo nesia. Locals believe that
lying down on active railway
tracks wi l l cure various ailments.
Participants remain on the tracks
for as long as the speeding trains
wil l a l low, believi ng that electrical
cu rre nts running th ro u g h the lines
a re beneficial to their h ealth .

£:1 WED D I NG MAC H I N E In 2011, Marvin's £:1 D I G T H E B R I D E! To save money on (;)STONES FAN In October 201o, police in
Marvellous Mechanical Museum in Detroit, wedding cars, groom Zhang Zongqiang, who Chennai, India, arrested a man for smuggling
Michigan, bought a new vending machine works for a heavy machinery company, used more than 2,ooo diamonds and precious
that enables couples to get married for just $1. a fleet of six mechanical diggers to transport stones in his stomach.
Devised by British company Concept Shed, the himself, his bride Ye Yuzi and their guests to
AutoWed has a robotic voice that takes couples the marriage ceremony in Henan Province, G.l CASH J I GSAW After a Taiwanese
through their vows, at the end of which they China. The couple stood in the bucket of the businessman had inadvertently dropped the
either press one button for "I do" or another lead digger, which was decorated with ribbons equivalent of U.S. $6,ooo of banknotes into a
for "Escape." At the end, they get a wedding and balloons, and tossed sweets to well­ shredder, justice ministry worker liu Hui-fen
receipt and two plastic rings. wishers along the route. put them back together in just seven days.

m DOUBLE D E L I G H T Shop owner Ron Rea

The 200 New Taiwan $1,000 bills were each
G.l
S H OT OR NAMENT Called to a home in ripped into about 20 pieces, but by locating
Kansas City, police officers shot an alligator of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, sold himself the Chinese character guo (country) on each
twice in the head before realizing it was a a winning $1.8-million lottery ticket in bill and then working outward, she managed
garden ornament. It was only when the November 2010-and as the seller of the to complete the cash jigsaw.

r:J I D OOOOOOO Jason Jenkins of

second shot bounced off the alligator that ticket, he received an extra $10,ooo!
they realized it was made of concrete.

THE TRAIN TRANSPORTING IRON OASRE FROM

Stoke-on-Trent, England, proposed to his
• girlfriend Melissa Bowen by having her

INLAND MAURITANIA TO THE CO T IS

engagement ring delivered by an owl.
Carrying a diamond ring in a pink velvet

OFTEN 1.5 M1 {2.4 KMJ LONG. •

bag on its leg, Zulu the owl swooped from
a perch and landed on Jason's arm.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
•• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• •
-- - - -
• •• • •
 HOLD
£11lATE D EliVERY A postcard from a soldier
serving in the British Army in World War I was TIGHT!
finally delivered in 2010-94 years late. The This brave lamb was
loving message from 19-year-old Alfred Arthur snapped h itch ing a ride
to his sister Ellen did not reach her address in on the back of his owner's
Norwich, England, until long after both of them motorcycle in H ava na,
had died, but with the help of a genealogist it C u ba, in early 20 1 1 .
has been forwarded to members of the family.

W MEMORABlE DATES Tyler Ashton Marx

was born in Meridian, Idaho, at 11.11 a.m. on
1/11/11 (January 11, 2011). His older sister was
born on September 9, 2009-09/09/09.

[;1 R I C H P I C K I NGS Armed with a pair of

tweezers, former jewelry setter Raffi Stepanian
made $450 a week by searching the pavemen
cracks of New York City for dropped gems and
gold. He found chips of diamonds and rubies,
and bits of platinum and gold fragments stuck
in the mud or in pieces of discarded gum.
 m MARR I E D H ERSELF On November 6,
2010, Chen Wei-yih, a 30-year-old office
worker from Taipei, Taiwan, got married to
herself. She arranged the ceremony that was
held at a hotel and witnessed by 30 relatives
and friends to show she was confident and
happy with who she was.

W BEG I N N ER'S l U C K Just minutes into his

first attempt at metal detecting, three-year­
old James Hyatt, of Billericay, England, struck
gold-in the form of a 16th-century religious
locket valued at nearly $4 million .
[;)POET I C J USTI C E U.K. filmmaker Martin
[;)PREMATURE AGI NG To demonstrate Cassini defended himself on a charge of
their commitment to growing old together, speeding to overtake a truck by pleading
Zhang Jin, 25, and his fiancee Yao Zenni, 26, his case to the court in Barnstaple, Devon,
of Nanjing, China, had pre-wedding in rhyming couplets. Despite his testimony
photographs taken showing them as an in verse, he was fined £175.
elderly couple battling against the cold.
The pair wore makeup and dyed their hair W C LEVER FEllER In May 2010, a man
gray to make themselves look so years older. lost in the wilderness of Northern
Saskatchewan, Canada, signaled for help
A three-year-old boy had W MERCY MISS I O N World-War-11 German by chopping down electrical poles. He was
an amazing
escape when he feU
from the eighth-floor
fighter pilot Franz Stigler allowed a heavily rescued when the power company came out
.
wmdo w of an apartment
building in BeJJ damaged American B-17 bomber to escape to investigate the downed lines ..
...mg, i'
Ch ma,· but became wed . during a 1943 mission-and 46 years later
. ged behind an a1r
cond.JtJoner protruding he became good friends with Charlie Brown, [;) THAT'S PROGRESS! It took three years
from a window on
the
floor below. Trapped
between the conditi
oner
the bomber's pilot. for the first U.S. mint to produce its first
and the wall, he was
unable to fall any furt million coins. Today, the Philadelphia,
her
and was rescued
with nothing worse tha £:1 U N D ER-QUAL I F I E D The Italian Pennsylvania, mint can stamp out a
n
a few scratches and government funded a Libyan man to attend million coins in 30 minutes.
bruises.
a training program in Rome so that he could
W ASH ES TOUR Deb Green from Vancouver, learn how to be an underwater frogman, W GRAVE VOWS In May 2011, two couples
Canada, advertised on the classified ads only to discover that he couldn't actually swim. held their weddings in a Chinese cemetery,
website craigslist for volunteers to take a vial It was later revealed that the candidate was exchanging their vows among the gravestones.
of her late parents' ashes around the world the cousin of the official tasked with choosing Wu Di and his bride Yang Xi and Wei Jian
and to sprinkle them at major landmarks. As participants for training programs and had liked and his bride Liu Ling, all of whom work
a result, their ashes are now sprinkled, among the idea of a vacation in Rome. at the cemetery, chose the unusual venue
other places, in a fountain in Las Vegas, in a as a declaration of their intention to be
beer garden in Amsterdam and at the base of W lUCKY N UMBERS Twice in the space together until death. The wedding procession
the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Deb said Alice and of a month in 2010, Israel's biweekly to Yong'an Cemetery in Tianjin consisted of
William Green could never afford to travel but national lottery drew the same six winning 26 decorated cemetery carts.
had always wanted to visit far-flung countries. numbers-13, 14, 26, 32, 33 and 36.
 BIZARRE
BII<ERS
If you see a watermelon
riding a bi ke, it's al most
certainly the resu lt of
a Kazakhsta n com pany
that has d esigned a ra nge
of weird motorcycle crash
helmets i n such styles as a brain,
a tennis ba l l, a cracked wa l n ut
and a watermelon.

C1 H OME lOVER A couple from Mestre, Italy,

took legal action in a desperate attempt to
force their 41-year-old son to leave home. The
parents said their son had a well-paid job but
refused to move out, preferring to have his
clothes laundered and his meals cooked by his
mother. Forty-eight percent of Italians between
the ages of 18 and 39 still live at home.

W W H EELC H A I R ROBBER Peter Lawrence, 71,

robbed a San Diego, California, bank of more
than $2,000 in 2010... while in a wheelchair.

C1 TWO-TOED T R I B E Many of the Vadoma

people, a reclusive tribe in western Zimbabwe,
have only two toes on each foot.

W FALSE FREC KLES Scottish prosthetic

technology company Touch Bionics has
introduced a highly realistic range of false limbs
that feature freckles, hairs and even tattoos.

W CUSH IONED FAllin January 2011,

a woman survived falling 23 stories from a
hotel rooftop in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
after she landed on the roof of a taxi, which
broke her fall.

W FOOD TATTOOS Chef Lauren Wilton of

Toronto, Canada, has decorated her body in
food-related tattoos, including a whisk, a fork
and spoon, two garlic heads, dandelion greens
[;) U N DERPANTS RUN On September 24, and a boar's head on a platter.

m MARR I E D ON T H E RUN A couple from

2011, thousands of people stripped down to
their underwear and ran through Salt Lake City
in protest at what they considered the strict Houston, Texas, got married during the 2011
laws of Utah. city marathon. David Upton and Molly Johnston
started the race as boyfriend and girlfr:iend but
W FLOR I DA TATTOO A burglary suspect in crossed the finish line as husband and wife
Tampa, Florida, was arrested after his alleged after pausing briefly at the 16-mi (26-km) mark
victims recognized him from a distinctive facial to exchange their marriage vows in front of
tattoo on his left cheek-an outline of the friends. The bride complemented her running

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
state of Florida. cap with a small white veil.

• • • • • • • • •• • • • • •
-� �- •• • • • • • • • •• •••••• • • • • • • •• • •
•
-- - - -- --- --- - - ------ -- --- --
 W DAN C I NG CARROTS To pave the way for
proposing to his girlfriend, Pang Kun persuaded
48 of his friends to dress up as giant dancing
carrots in a shopping mall at Qingdao, China.
He spent $15,000 on carrot costumes and they
rehearsed their dance routine for two days. The
idea was to attract the attention of Zhao Xi nyu
because orange is her favorite color.

W B I RTH PATTERN Emily Beard was born

in 1997 in Portsmouth, England, at 12 minutes
past 12 on the 12th day of the 12th month.
Her father David had been born at 40 minutes
past four on the fourth day of the fourth
month, her mother Helen was born on the
tenth day of the tenth month, her brother
Harry arrived on the sixth day of the sixth
month, and their grandmother Sylvia was
born on the nth of the nth .

W PARALLEL L IVES Graham Comrie, 45,

and Graham Cormie, 47, who live just 10 mi
(16 km) apart in Scotland, look almost
identical, are both professional photographers
Vernon Swart from Stellenbosch, and married to redheads, and have two W "CASH IER NUMBER FOUR, PLEASE" The
South Africa, was horrifled when daughters, and Lhasa Apso dogs as pets. voice of Terry Green is heard in t he U.K. about
he returned home to flnd his dog Both men celebrated their silver wedding 30 million times every month as his is the voice
anniversaries in 2on. People confuse them for that directs customers at banks and post offices
Bello running around with a Iorge each other all the time, and they get messages to the next available counter.
knife lodged flrmly in her skull. from each other's friends on Facebook.
The six�yeor-old Alsatian terrier W NO NAME Maximus Julius Pauson of
W MISS MAPLE Using detective skills she Pasadena, California, wasn't given a name on
crossbreed hod suffered the injury had learned at a Junior District Attorney his birth certificate and went without an official
as she chased burglars away from crime-fighting summer camp, 12-year-old name for 19 years.
the property, but incredibly she did Jessica Maple quickly solved a burglary at her
late great-grandmother's house in Atlanta, [;)I R O N I C C RASH On January 31, 2on,
not appear to be in any pain, and Georgia-a crime that had baffled the police. a driver accidentally crashed into the same

(i1 L IMPED AWAY One of South Africa's

later recovered. The veterinarian Tampa, Florida, insurance office that provided
who eventually removed the knife her with car insurance.
most wanted criminals-due to stand trial in
said the dog had been only a relation to 35 armed bank robberies-escaped W LATEX MASKS Robbers who stole
fraction of on inch from death. from police custody by simply walking out of a $6o million worth of jewelry in a 2009 raid
Pretoria courtroom door. . . on crutches. in london, England, reportedly hired an
unsuspecting makeup artist to disguise their
W MISSI NG R I N G Robert McDuffy, a faces with liquid latex masks. The artist, who
W FATED TO MARRY Amy Singley firefighter from Wareham, Massachusetts, thought the pair were appearing in a music
and Steven Smith of Bushkill Township, lost his wedding ring while fighting a video, also changed their hair color and skin
Pennsylvania, were born at the same hospital house fire. However, luckily for Robert, the tone during the $700, four-hour session.
on the same day in 1986-when their mothers homeowner found the ring-n years later­
shared a hospital room-and on June 12, 2010, and returned it.
the 24-year-olds married.

• •
• • . . .•.
 ··•
•••
;�
•••••••••
JM,'
•••••••••
II
•••••

2?
till �-
·==
••• w Q w r::r i p l e y b o o k s . c o m
�ve It or Not!®
• ••
. ·····- • • • • •
• • • • • •
m L U C KY F I N D When Reg Barker of Suffolk, m WALL VAU LTER The U.S. military's
;:1
-
England, bought a box of old postcards at a research arm has devised a robot the
garage sale, he was amazed to find one of size of a shoebox that can jump over
�
-·
them featured a picture of his mother. He paid walls 2S ft (7.s m) high . The Precision Urban
$4 for the box stuffed with more than 200 Hopper is a four-wheeled, GPS-guided �
postcards in 2009. When he looked through remote control car fitted with a piston leg -e:
them, he saw one of crowds celebrating Victory that can propel it over obstacles up to �
-
....
in Europe Day on May 8, 194s. There, dancing 6o times its own size.

m FAC IAL RECOGN I T I O N A Japanese

with Canadian troops in London's Leicester
•-
Square, were his adoptive mother and aunt.
company has invented a vending machine
fil J O B SEARC H During 2008 and 2009, that uses facial recognition to recommend
a homeless, jobless Californian economics drin ks to customers. The machine uses
graduate landed so jobs in so different U.S. sensors to work out the age and gender
states in so weeks. In his search for work of a customer and then suggests items
around the country, former financial analyst based on that information, while also taking
Dan Seddiqui became-among other things­ into account factors such as the time of day
a lobster fisherman, a jazz-band conductor, a and the weather. When the first interactive
TV weatherman, a syrup processor and even drinks machine was introduced at a Tokyo
a Las Vegas wedding planner! He said that his train station, sales were three times that
favorite job was as a bartender in Louisiana of its predecessor.
during the Mardi Gras festival.

Rusty H aight is the

h u man crash-test d u mmy. As director of the Sa n
Diego-based Col lision Safety I nstitute, Rusty has experien ced more th an 950
violent vehicle crash tests at speeds of up to 54 m p h (87 km/h), and ta ken 1 40 air
bags to the face. A former police traffic officer, Rusty uses his u ni q u e car-wreck
experience to resea rch a uto mobile safety and investigate and reconstru ct collisions.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
•• • • • • • • • • - - __ _! __ !�-- �--�-�--·-! • • • --
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m CAVE WED D I NG Jude Onions married

Johnny latimer where they met-in an
underground cave. The potholers' n uptials took
War I artillery cannon, could bombard the place 334ft (102 m) deep in lngleborough Cave,

Cl GlADIATOR F IG H T In August 2011,

French capital from 70 mi (112 km) away and North Yorkshire, England.

m PANTS CARGO A man was arrested at

could be fired so high that the rotation of the
undercover police officers in Rome, Italy, Earth affected its trajectory.

Cl TAlBOT SOC I ETY The Talbot Society holds

dressed up as gladiators-complete with togas Miami International Airport as he tried to board
and capes-to prevent the escalation of a turf a flight for Brazil-with seven exotic snakes
war between Italian gladiator impersonators gatherings for people named Talbot. They drive and three tortoises stuffed down his pants.
who prey on tourists outside the Colosseum to Port Talbot, South Wales, in their Talbot

M J L O NG
and other city landmarks. When the officers cars, stopping en route at hotels and inns

( l &
�� �:� 2 5 f T
impersonating gladiators came under attack called the Talbot.
AR E
� 'N S S IZ E 879 S H O E S.
from the regular gladiator impersonators, they

E S TAT UE
NT H
were rescued by other undercover officers

TH E FE E T O D R EQUIR E .
dressed as garbage collectors and tourists!

m SAME J U DGE Mark Steven Phillips was A ND WO UL

.

i'
arrested on January 27, 2011, in West Palm GJ BlUES BROT H E R Bill Smith-Eccles
Beach, Florida, more than 31 years after fleeing (aka Jake Blues) of Derbyshire, England,
from a criminal drug trial, and coincidentally GJ C lASS OF T H E I R OWN A 2011-12 is such a fan of the 1980 cult movie The
faced the same judge that presided over his freshman class at Maine South High School, Blues Brothers that he wears sunglasses all
1979 case. Park Ridge, Illinois, contained 16 sets of twins the time-even on his driver's license photo,

Cl SPEED C HASE Female police officers

and three sets of triplets. making him the only person in the U.K. that

Cl KillED BY ROOSTER Jose Luis Ochoa died

has been allowed to do so.

Cl OUT W I T H A BANG Following his death

in Chengdu, China, patrol the city's Tianfu
Square on rollerblades so that they can pursue from a wound inflicted by a rooster during an
criminals at speed-giving chase at speeds of illegal cockfight in Tulare County, California, on in 2009, the ashes of Alfonse Kennedy
up to 25 mph (40 km/h). January 30, 2011. He was stabbed in the leg by Goss, a keen member of New Zealand's
a bird that had a knife attached to its leg. Wellington Cannon Society, were fired
from a cannon over the city harbor.

AUEN CLOUD
Is it an alie

Earth? No, •t
n spacesh.'P
hovering in
sky a bout

1 mP Ie of a
to land on the

cloud (Alt c
•

� �:; ;
u lent culoris
a spectacula s '

), a cloud
r exa
lenticular
that gets i
�
e rom tfs sm
lenslike sha ooth,
the sheltered
pe W hen t• he • d on WI?
side of mou
stand"tng wa ntarns forms
ves of au� an

;
•
d moisture in

;
the air cond
enses at the

�;;
ave , � � reates len
top of th
ticular clou
�
e rn rs co
nstant, the clo
ds

; �:�
�
re am sta
tionary in th
ud
e sky fo
per•ods, lead g

;
ing to th m •

being mista somehmes

ken for fly n
g saucers.
 1'!1 POPU LAT I O N CENTER Mongolia
1'!1
BAD S I N G I N G The Philippines House of covers more than 6oo,ooo sq mi
Representatives passed a law in October 2010 (1.5 million sq km)-about four times
making it a crime to sing the country's national the size of Germany-but nearly half its
anthem poorly. A guilty singer could get up to citizens live in one city, its capital Ulan Bator.

00 SEA OF CORN In November 2010, a grain

two years in jail.

00 PUMPKI N RACE Each year Ludwigsburg silo collapsed in Norwalk, Ohio, spilling more
Castle in Germany stages a pumpkin festival, than 1oo,oo o bushels of corn and creating a
the highlight of which is a giant pumpkin "sea of corn" 12 ft (3.6 m) deep that knocked a
boat race in the former royal palace's massive nearby home from its foundation.
fountain. The pumpkins can weigh more
than 200 lb (90 kg) before their tops are cut [;) HYDRANT TOSS Sherrodsville, Ohio,

m GIANT TREE Since 1981, the Italian town

off and their flesh scooped out to turn them has an annual fire-hydrant tossing contest.
into paddleboats. The 2010 festival also Participants hurl heavy 113-lb (51-kg) hydrants
featured a giant statue of a seahorse made distances of over 20 ft (6 m). A women's of Gubbio has created an illumination in the
out of pumpkins. competition uses lighter 40-lb (18-kg) hydrants. shape of the "biggest Christmas tree in the
world" on a mountainside above the town. In
2010, the spectacle boasted more than 8oo
lights, and used nearly 8 mi (13 km) of cables
and thousands of plugs to create a tree that
stretched over 2,6oo ft (795 m) tall.

00 D R I FTWOOD MUSEUM Bandon, Oregon,

has a museum dedicated solely to driftwood,
displaying weird and natural shapes from
gnarled root balls to whole tree trunks.

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00 SMALL CEMETERY Ocracoke Island, North 00 H O B B I T H OTEl Fans•of Lord of the Rings
•

�
W SIGN POST FOREST The Signpost Forest,
Carolina, is home to a cemetery owned by near Watson lake, Yukon, Canada, displays can stay in an underground hobbit hotel in

Ill!
Britain that has only four graves. All four souls more than 6s,ooo city limits signs that have Trout Creek, Montana. Steve Michaels has Cl
were washed ashore from a capsized British been collected from around the world. The built the 1,ooo-sq-ft (93-sq-m) Hobbit House of
-
trawler in 1942. collection was started in 1942 after a homesick Montana into a hill and designed it so that it
G.l., Private Carl K. lindley, accidentally drove looks just like Middle Earth from the outside, c.
W CAVE SC H OOl Until 2on, a school in a bulldozer into the original sign that pointed but has modern comforts such as HD Blu-Ray
a remote mountain community in Guizhou out the distances to various locations along TV and WiFi access on the inside.
Province, China, had all its classrooms and its the Alaska Highway. While carrying out repairs
playground in a cave. The 186 pupils at the following the accident, Private lindley added £:1 BEDROOM S I N KH OLE A sinkhole 40 ft
Getu Village Cave Primary School took their a sign pointing to his hometown of Danville, (12 m) deep and 2 ft 7 in (8o em) in diameter
lessons in a vast cave the size of an aircraft Illinois. Each year up to 4,000 new signs are suddenly appeared overnight beneath the bed
hangar, surrounded by bats and lizards. The added by tourists and visitors as they pass of a woman's home in Guatemala City in July
acoustics helped the school to have the best through Watson lake, so that the Signpost 2011. Guatemala City is prone to sinkholes
choir in the area. Forest now occupies a couple of acres. because it is built on volcanic deposits and

l:1 Ol D-STYlE H O L I DAYS Hotel Morava in 00 TOTEM POLE Over a three-month period,
experiences abnormally high rainfall.

Tatranska lomnica, Slovakia, hosts vacations a 40-ft-tall (12.1-m) redwood tree at Confusion £:1 GIANT FU NGUS A enormous fungus found
in the style of the former Communist worker Hill, Piercy, California, was carved by chainsaw in China is 33 ft (10 m) long, 2 ft 7 in (8o em)
holidays-complete with strict 7 a.m. wake-up into a gigantic totem pole. The pole is the wide and 2% in (s.s em) thick-and it weighs
calls, compulsory morning exercises and even largest free-standing redwood chainsaw half a ton. It was discovered living under a fallen
a re-enactment of a May Day rally. carving in the world. tree and is estimated to hold 450 million spores.
 ��
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ove the
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gro und, at the .
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China's Hunan Provin

r:lGREAT WALL Following in the footsteps

£:1 STAN D I NG STONES The French village of
Carnac is home to more than 3,000 standing
TREE CHAPEL of the country's ancient emperors, in January
2011 the wealthy residents of Aodi, Zhejiang
stones arranged in straight lines over 5,ooo A n 800-year-old oak tree i n the F rench Province, China, built a 23-ft-high (7-m) wall
years ago by an ancient civilization. vil lage of Allouvi l le-Bellefosse has two around their village for protection. They
cha pels in its hol low tru nk. They were created the 28-in-thick (7o-cm) wall from more
W L IG H TN I NG STR I KE A single lightning bolt built in the late 1 600s, along with a n than 70,000 adobe bricks. The only entrance
at a military base in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, exterior spiral stai rcase, after lightning to the village is via a huge iron gate.
burned thro u g h the tree. Each yea r,
in J une 2011 struck an entire troop of cadets,
on Aug ust 1 5, a re ligious pilgrimage is
sending no fewer than 77 of them to hospital. r:lH OPPI NG PROCESSION Echternach,
made to the Chapel Oak.
Luxembourg, hosts an annual hopping
£:1 J U N K W I N DM I L L In 2002, the village procession . Up to 9,ooo men, women and
of Masitala in Malawi had electricity for children-linked by a chain of handkerchiefs­
the first time when local resident, William hop through the streets in celebration of a local
Kamkwamba, built a windmill from junk saint, St. Willibrord.
and spare parts to generate power.
r:lFOSS I L F I N D In February 2011, miner
rt D UCT TAPE FESTI VAL Since 2004, Jay Wright was working 700 ft (210 m)
the town of Avon, Ohio, has held an annual underground at a coalmine in Webster
festival celebrating duct tape, complete County, Kentucky, when he discovered a
with artistic exhibits made from the tape. 300-million-year-old shark jawbone.

r:l ON T H E EDGE Groups of up to six people r:lFOUGHT TSUNAMI While most of

who enjoy living on the edge can pay $175 the 3,500 people on the Japanese island of
per person to walk hands-free for 30 minutes Oshima ran to the hills on hearing the March
around a high, narrow ledge on the outside of 2011 tsunami warning, 64-year-old Susumu
the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario-attached Sugawara took his fishing boat out to sea
only by a cable. The ledge is just 5 ft (1.5 m) and rode out a succession of 6o-ft-high (18-m)
wide, has no guardrail and is 1,168 ft (356 m) waves. When the tsunami abated, his was
above ground, but offers exhilarating views the only boat from the island that had not
of the city and Lake Ontario. been destroyed.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • •
• •
•• • • •
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 £:1 CAR D BOARD BOATS The
Cardboard Boat Museum in New
Richmond, Ohio, displays some of
the weird and wonderful craft that
have competed in 20 years of the
annual cardboard boat race on
the Ohio River.

£:1 SOMALI SPLIT When Somalia's

dictator, Siad Barre, was overthrown
in 1991, the northwestern part of
the country seceded and declared
independence as Somaliland. They
have a currency, a police force and
democratic elections but are not
recognized by any other country.

W SI ESTA T IME Spain's first National

Siesta Championship took place in
Madrid in 2010 to help revive the
tradition of taking a short sleep after
lunch. Competitors were monitored
as they tried to doze for 20 minutes
on sofas in the middle of a shopping
mall. The highest points were .
awarded to people who managed
to sleep for the full 2o minutes, but
marks were also awarded for inventive
sleeping positions, distinctive outfits
and the loudest snore.

W C H I NA CENSUS China, the

world's most populated country,
employed six million people­
more than the entire population of
Denmark-simply to administer its
2010 population census.

W F I RST SNOW In August 2011, a

cold blast from the Antarctic brought
snow to Auckland, New Zealand,
for the first time in 35 years-snow
was last seen there in the 1970s.
The unusual weather created
such excitement that people
rushed to post pictures and
videos online of the snow
as it fell in the city.

W U N DERWATER SU ITE To
celebrate its fifth anniversary,
the Conrad Maldives Rangali
Island Hotel converted its famous
underwater restaurant into a
honeymoon suite beneath the waves,
complete with a double bed, complimentary
champagne breakfast and uninterrupted

• • • • • • • • • • •
views of exotic sea life.

• •• • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • ••••• • • •• • • •• • • • • • • • I •••• •• • • •
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 W SANTA PENTAT H LON The 54th World W TEARFUl BRI DES The Tujia people in [:1 GlOW I N G lAKES Gippsland lakes in
Santa Claus Congress, held near Denmark's Central China maintain an ancient tradition Victoria, Australia, glow in the dark-owing to
capital, Copenhagen, in 2011, featured a Santa of "crying marriages." Brides begin daily crying a combination of fires, floods and algae. The
pentathlon-a five-discipline event between a month before the wedding, with female fires of 2006 were followed by severe floods,
two teams of Santas, one from Denmark and friends eventually joining in so that they which washed ash and nitrogen-rich soil into
one from the rest of the world, including the can weep together. the lakes. When temperatures warmed up in
U.S.A., Sweden, Russia and Germany. The the summer, blue-green algae feeding on the
fitness contest required the Santas to throw W U N DERSEA VOLCANOES A chain of high level of nutrients, appeared across great
gifts, fire cannon balls, ride bumper cars, race 12 huge, underwater volcanoes has been swathes of the water. When organisms were
over an obstacle course and compete in a discovered in the icy waters of the Southern disturbed, they created a chemical reaction
horse-race game. Ocean. The volcanoes-some of which are called bioluminescence, which emitted an eerie

[:1 MYSTERY F I REBAll When Croatians

active-are dotted over an area the size of blue light, making the lake glow at night.

[:1 $ 1 0 M i l l i O N TREE For Christmas 2010,

Britain and several are around 2 mi (3 km) high,
spotted a mysterious ball of fire dart through making them nearly four times higher than the
the sky over Bjelovar in February 2011, many world's tallest building, Dubai's Burj Khalifa. the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi
thought it was a comet or even an alien attack. displayed a jewel-encrusted Christmas
Instead, it turned out to be nothing more than W FAI RY ROCK A builder was forced to tree worth more than $10 million . The
a patch of burning grass caught by the wind. redesign a luxury housing estate in Perthshire, tree's branches were draped in bracelets,
local farmer Marin Kiselic had decided that, Scotland, around a rock because local people necklaces and watches containing diamonds,
with no time to mow his fields, it was cheaper said fairies lived under it and would be upset pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other

• • • • • L.] • • • • • • • •
to set them on fire. if it were moved. precious stones .

• • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • •
!_._._ __._!_• • •• • • • • • • •• •••••• • • •• •
. . -

� �·� �· . •
 [;)ICELAN D I C F EST I VAL The town of Gimli
in Manitoba, Canada, holds an annual festival
that celebrates all things Icelandic. Since
1890, the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba-or
lslendingadagurinn-has been crowning a
Fjallkona (maid of the mountain) and
reenacting Viking warfare tactics.

[;) NAT I ONAL PERFUME Lithuania has

launched its own national perfume-a blend
of sandalwood, cedar and musk designed
to convey the Indo-European origins of the
Lithuanian language as well as strength of
character. Samples of the perfume were [;)C LOSED W I N DOWS To ensure that the
sent to Lithuanian embassies, hotels and exterior of Buckingham Palace, the home
airports and to the country's soldiers of Queen Elizabeth II in London, England,
deployed in Afghanistan. maintains a unified appearance, none of the
front windows are ever opened.
[;)U N D ERGROU N D H OSP ITAL Ukraine's
Solotvyno salt mine has a subterranean [;)NO DOORS The homes in the village of Tree branches, metal

hospital ward for convalescing asthmatics Siala in Orissa, India, have no doors. Residents skewers and needles are
just some of the implements
and people with other respiratory problems. believe a goddess watches over their village
used for piercing at Phuket's
Its salty air is said to have created a unique and protects it from theft.
Vegetarian Festival.
microclimate that helps people who suffer
from breathing difficulties. W WRAP FANS The last Monday in January
in the U.S.A. is Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, W C H A I N WH I PP I NG The Festival of
..

[;)H I D DEN T U N N ELS In May 2010, police when bubble wrap fans celebrate the packing Ashura is celebrated by some Shia Muslims
searched the residence of a man in East Austin, material, which was originally designed in with flagellation ceremonies where participants
Texas, and discovered he had dug a three-story 1957 as insulated wallpaper, by popping cut their own scalps with knives or whip their

tunnels went as far as 35 ft (n m) deep and in

network of tunnels beneath his home. The plastic all over the country. The day, known as chests and backs with chains.

m FREE F LAGS Flags that fly over the

BWAD, was started in 2001 by two radio DJs
several places were big enough to allow an in Bloomington, Indiana, to fill the news void
adult to stand up. between Martin Luther King Day and the Canadian Parliament's Peace Tower are free
Super Bowl. to residents who request one-but there is a
W LONGEST REIGN The 76th Maharana of 27-year waiting list to receive one.
Udaipur, India, is part of the longest ruling [;)WAR TOURS A Swiss travel agency offers
dynasty in the world. His family has ruled there vacations in the world's most dangerous war W STATUES STOLEN The Dutch city of
since AD 566-that's an unbroken run of nearly zones. Babel Travel's catalog has package Nijmegen removed ten large bronze statues
1,450 years. tours for Iraq, Sudan and Somalia, as well as from the streets in November 2010 after four of
giving tourists the chance to spend Christmas them had been ripped from their foundations,
in Afghanistan or enjoy a New Year's party in probably stolen to be sold as scrap metal.
Iran. A 45-day vacation in Afghanistan costs
more than $3o,oo o-and that's without [;)S I LVER LADY The Silver Queen, a 19th­
adding in the cost of travel insurance. century hotel in Virginia City, Nevada, has

m WH I STL I NG LANGUAGE The whistling

a 15-ft-tall (4.6-m) painting of a lady in an
evening gown adorned with 3,261 real silver
language of Silbo Gomero has only four coins. Her belt is made from 28 gold coins and
vowels and four consonants, and its speakers her choker and bracelets are made from dimes.
can easily converse while standing 2 mi
(3 km) apart. It is used only by inhabitants [;)TREE H OUSE Farmer Xiong Yuhu from
of La Gomera in the Canary Islands and is Xingping, Hunan Province, China, has built a
communicated by whistling at different tones. house-with a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom
and lounge-at the top of a so-ft-high (15-m)
[;) LOST COPY During its 40th anniversary of tree. Inspired by the Bird's Nest Olympic
independence from Britain, the island nation Stadium in Beijing, this luxury tree house
of Fiji announced that it had lost its copy of is reached by a long wooden staircase. The
the 1970 Independence Order, which granted structure is so solid that 18 adults have stood
the country self-rule. in the house together.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
•• • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • ••
. .•..
 W W I L D ORC H I D A single Lady's Slipper
W PLANT l i F E The South Atlantic's arid and orchid growing on the Silverdale Golf Course
volcanic Ascension Island received its diverse in Carnforth, Lancashire, England, is the last
plant species in the 185os when the British of its kind growing wild in all of Britain and is
Royal Navy populated it with annual shipments protected by police patrols. The orchid, which
of plants from around the world. is more than 100 years old, attracts hundreds
of visitors each year, with people traveling over
W DOOMSDAY VAULT Millions of seeds 200 mi (320 km) just to see it.
taken from more than 50o,ooo different crop
varieties are stored in a special vault situated W LONG STREET A single street in central
425 ft (130 m) inside a frozen mountain on Brazil stretches for 311 mi (501 km). Lined with
a remote Norwegian island near the Arctic houses for the whole length, it is almost the

KILLER PLANT Ocean. The location for the Doomsday Vault,

as it is known, was chosen because it is
equivalent to a street running all the way from
San Francisco to Los Angeles.
A carnivorous pitcher plant a t thought to be about the safest place on the
a garden n u rsery i n Somerset, planet to protect the world's seed collections W WATERPROOF VAULT The Crypt of
Engla nd, killed a nd ate a g reat from nuclear war or other disasters. Civilization-a waterproof vault beneath

m ORANGE GOO A strange, sticky, orange

tit-o n ly the seco nd documented Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia­
case in the world of a pitcher was sealed in 1940 and contains objects and
plant eati ng a bird . The pla nt's goo made up from millions of rust fungal information of the day. Its stainless steel
inner wa l l secretes a n ecta rlike
spores washed ashore near Kivalina, Alaska, receptacles are filled with inert gases and
substa nce to attract insects, a nd
in 2011. so are designed to last 6,ooo years.
the bird proba bly leaned in too
fa r in pursuit of one and beca me
W SKELETON V I EW A five-bedroom house in W TW I N TOWN About 1.5 percent of all
trap ped by the pla nt's slippery,
waxy surface. It then fe l l i nto Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland has a human births are twins-but they are over
the pool of e nzymes and acid medieval tomb and skeleton in the cellar. The three times more common in the town of
that is ho used at the base of house was built in 1750 on the foundations lgbo-Ora, Nigeria. The reason for the high
the pitcher. Large pitch er pla nts of a Russian church. The kitchen rests on level of multiple births is a mystery, but some
often eat rats and frogs, and can the presbytery, and the tomb containing the doctors believe it could be linked to the large
comp letely devo u r a piece of skeleton of a Russian man who died about amount of the tuberous vegetable yam eaten
meat i n just a few days. Boo years ago is visible through a glass panel. by the local people.

·
.. . � . . · �-�·�·�·-�-�--·-� � - .. . � . .
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • •• • • • • • • • •
• • • •
 . . � � • •
r:1 D R I VE-T H RU MORTUARY There is a
drive-thru mortuary in Compton, California. �
IIIII!
Robert L. Adams Mortuary has a drive-thru Cl
Drivers compete on the twisty 24 Crankle viewing option where mourners can see the
Stilwell Road {also known as the Burma Road) -
open casket of a dead relative displayed
during a hill-climb rally in Guizhou Province,
behind a long bulletproof glass window c.
China. The road is 717 mi {1,154 km) long and
without getting out of their car.
runs from Yunnan Province, China, to Burma.
Over 2,300 laborers lost their lives while
building the Chinese section of the road in 1938. r:1 COLOSSAL CAVE At more than
6so ft (198 m) high and almost soo ft
(152 m) wide, Hang Song Doong, a cave
in Vietnam, is large enough to contain
several 4o-story buildings.

0
r:1 F LY I NG H I G H The city of Calipatria,
California, sits at an altitude of negative 184 ft
(56 m), but its flagpole is just high enough for

Bullllllist Bolly
the U.S. flag to fly right at sea level.

r:1 H OLY STALAGM ITE India's ice "Shiva

Lingam," a stalagmite that is worshiped by
Hindus, was melting in August 2011 because Inside a large pot at a temple in Fujian
of warmer weather and a record number of Province, China, construction workers found
vistors generating too much body heat. Over
the body of a Buddhist nun that had been
a 40-day period that summer, 62o,ooo people
went to see the holy stalagmite at Amarnath buried for 32 years. Although Chen Zhu's
caves in Kashmir. corpse had not been embalmed, it was so
well preserved that it has been wrapped
r:1 CON N ECTICUT CORNER If you
travel directly North, South, East in gauze and coated in black
or West from the .r
city of lacquer and gold foil to make
Stamford, Co n necticut,
a permanent human body
you will enter the
state of New York. statue. Buddhists say the
nun's vegetarian diet
kept her body in a
good state.
• U N DERSEA R I VER Differences in elN EW ISLAN DS New islands regularly
temperature and salt content cause water from appear and disappear off the coast of Pakistan
the Mediterranean to flow into the Black Sea as near the Makran Desert over a matter of
an underwater river, complete with waterfalls months. They are created by volcanoes of
and a riverbed on the sea floor. mud that erupt from deep within the Earth.

m TOR NADO RECORD li LONGEST CONST IT U T I O N With

On April 27, 2011, a record­ 444 articles, 12 schedules and 94 amendments
breaking 312 tornadoes were totaling more than 117,000 words, India's
recorded over the U.S.A.'s Constitution is the longest written constitution
southern States in a 24-hour of any independent country. By contrast, the
period starting at 8 a.m.­ U.S. Constitution is the shortest, with just seven
more than double the previous articles and 27 amendments, giving a total of
record of 148 twisters in a single day in 1974. only 4.400 words.
Four of the April 2o11 tornadoes achieved the
most powerful ranking possible-EF5 on the (;1 TSAR BELL The bronze Tsar Bell, which
Enhanced Fujita Scale-whereas normally such sits in the grounds of the Kremlin, Moscow,
destructive twisters are recorded only once a Russia, weighs over 200 tons, stands more
year or less. than 200 ft (6 m) high, has a diameter of

m WORLD S I GN A signpost in Lynchville,

21 ft 8 in (6.6 m) and is 2 ft (6o em) thick. Cast
in 1735, the bell-the biggest in the world­
Photographer Peter Bardsley of Cumbria,
Maine, points to Norway (14 mi122 km), was damaged two years later by fire, the heat
Paris (15 mi124 km), Denmark (23 mi137 km), England, spotted this creepy foce formed from which caused a 12-ton piece to shatter.
Naples (23 mi137 km), Sweden (25 mil40 km), by the reflection of o cove in the Hodge The bell has been used as a chapel, with people
Poland (27 mil43 km), Mexico (37 mil6o km), entering and exiting via the broken area.
Close Quarry, in the Loke District. The ·

m TREE H OME After graduating from college

Peru (46 mi174 km) and China (94 mi1151 km).
The towns are all in Maine and the distances skull cove (best seen when the picture
from Lynchville are genuine. is turned through 90 degrees, os in the and with his parents moving to Hawaii, Corbin

m POPULAR PRES I DENT Indonesian

Dunn built a tree house and lived in it for five
moin photo obove) con be seen only by
years. Located 40 ft (12 m) above ground at
President Susilo Bam bang Yudhoyono was abseiling 1 00 ft (30 m) down on unstable the back of the family home in Santa Cruz,
re-elected with nearly 74 million votes cast cliff, or wading through o 260-ft (80-m) California, the tree house had electricity and
for him in 2009-the most votes ever received boasted a fully functional shower and toilet.
mine tunnel. The quarry hos not been
m NO CAN D I DATES When the small town
by a democratically elected official anywhere
in the world. used for decodes, ond its flooded tunnels
ond coves ore popular with divers. of Tar Heel, North Carolina (population 117),
announced vacancies for mayor and three
commission seats in 2011, no one bothered
to run for election.

CROOKED
FOREST
The town of N ew Czarnowo,
Poland, is home to a bizarre
forest n ea r the Odra River, where
h u ndreds of pine trees display
large bends i n the bottom of their
tru n ks, before g rowing vertically
as normal. Surro u nd i ng trees are
co mpletely straig ht. The reason
behind their deformity is a mystery,
and explanations ra nge fro m man­
made tec h n iq u es used to shape the
wood for use i n furn itu re or boats,
to extreme e nvironmental conditions
when the trees were young.

• • • • • •
• • • •
 ,r-��=- cFi r -
• • • a ••••• •• ••••
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llil
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W CON FUSED CAT Overcoming her natural
tendencies, a female cat named Niu Niu acted
as a mother to 30 newborn chicks. Her owner,
farmer Lao Yang of Sui bin County, China, was
amazed to see the cat licking, embracing and
playing with the chicks, who responded by
following her everywhere.
•

AIRPLANES IN THE U.S.A.

•

COLLIDE WITH ANAVERAGE

OF ONEALLIGATOR A YEAR
ON RUNWAYS.
[iJBEST F R I EN DS A mynah bird and a dog
have become so inseparable that their owner

m U N I NVITED GU EST After floodwaters m TRACTOR lOVE For more than three
has built a special perch for the bird that can
be attached to the dog and enables them to
go for walks together. Qiao Yu of Shandong receded from her home in Parauapebas, Brazil, years, a swan in the grounds of a luxury hotel
Province, China, says the mynah combs the in February 2011, a woman was shocked to in Velen, Germany, has been madly in love
dog's fur and plucks fleas off it, while the find an alligator behind the couch in the living with a big blue tractor and follows the vehicle
dog responds by barking loudly whenever room-and her three-year-old son happily around wherever it goes. The swan-named
someone goes near the bird. patting the s-ft-long (1.5-m) reptile on the head. Schwani-also finds diggers and machines

[:) POOPED PARK A campground in Cornwall,

on the building site next door interesting.
W lONG CAT Stewie, a five-year-old Maine Animal behaviorists believe the bird probably
England, faced a $15,000 dean-up bill in Coon cat owned by Robin Hendrickson and Erik had contact with machines as a cygnet and
February 2011 after a huge flock comprising Brandsness of Reno, Nevada, measures more therefore sees the tractor as a likely mate.
tens of thousanqs ?f starlings covered it in a than 4 ft (1.2 m) long from the tip of his nose
layer of bird droppings that was 7 in (18 em) to the tip of his tail.
deep in places.
 P A ND A S UlTS
W SKI NNY SCAVENGERS Hagfish are
primitive, tubelike scavengers that eat using
To prepare captive-born giant panda cubs their skin. On finding a carcass on the ocean
for life in the wild, keepers at the panda floor, the hagfish burrows into the dead body,
conservation centers in western China dress where it not only uses its mouth to eat, but
up in fluffy black-and-white panda costumes. also absorbs nutrients through its skin and gills.
They wear the suits whenever
approaching the cubs
tilB L I N D SH EEPDOG Liz Edwards, a farmer
so that the pandas
in Cheshire, England, bought Jack, a sheepdog
have only minimum
that was so good at his job it took several
contact with humans.
months for her to realize the dog had gone
Here, baby panda
blind. "He's such an inspiration," she said.
Tao Tao is being
transferred to a large "He carried on as if nothing had happened.
wilderness area where it is He must have had our farm mapped out in his
planned he and his captive-bred mother, Cao head. He knows exactly where everything is."
Cao, will start their reintegration into the wild. She discovered he had lost vision in both eyes
only when he ran straight into a wooden peg
til
MUCUS COCOON Some species of W SAV I O R l l ll Y After suffering a bad sticking out of the ground.

EVER
parrotfish spend up to an hour each night epileptic fit, Nathan Cooper of Bournemouth,

G E S T J EL L YFI S H
THE LAR
preparing a cocoon of mucus, which they England, came close to death-but was saved •

TA CL ES
wrap around themselves like a sleeping bag. by his cat Lilly, who alerted Nathan's parents.
She can detect the weekly fits her owner
CA U G H T H A D TE N •

NG!
120 FT {36 Ml L O
W DOLPH I N SCAN Tapeko, a female experiences before they happen, and once
bottlenose dolphin, had her pregnancy resuscitated him by licking his mouth. Experts

W GATOR D RAG Ten-year-org Michael Dasher

confirmed by undergoing a human-style think cats' and dogs' acute sense of smell helps
ultrasound scan at Brookfield Zoo, Illinois. them detect minute chemical changes within
The dolphin was happy to float belly-up for the human body prior to a fit. of Rockledge, Florida, dragged a live alligator,
the scan-in return for a fish reward. measuring 5 ft 9 in (1.8 m) in length, home

l'iJ NATU RAL PRAWN K I LLERS The Mantis

til
J U RY SERVICE Tabby Sal the cat was from a nearby canal. The boy was fishing with
summoned to do jury service in Boston, friends when the alligator snapped at the line
shrimp of the Indian and Pacific oceans has a Massachusetts, even after his owner Anna and ran at him. He hit it with sticks and jumped
sting as powerful as a shot from a .22-caliber Esposito told the court he was "unable to on its back before dragging it home, suffering
bullet. They kill prey by dismembering or speak and understand English" just minor scratches on his arms and hands.
spearing it with their claws, but can also stun and was "a domestic short-
it with their fearsome sting. haired neutered feline."
 Te n-year-o ld Rachael Shardlow is the fi rst person known to have su rvived
an extensive sti ng from a box jel lyfish-o ne of the world's most ve nomous
creatu res. She was stu ng while swi mming in the Ca l liope River, Queensland,
Austra lia, and after her broth er pu lled her from the water, she fel l u nconscio us
with the jellyfish's lethal tentacles sti l l stra pped to her limbs. Rachael req ui red
six weeks of h ospita l treatment before being allowed home.

W SECRET D R I N KER After checking the 1:1 LONG-D I STANCE SWI M A migrating W SEL F-SU F F I C I ENT The spiny-shelled
plumbing of hot tubs that appeared to have humpback whale swam 6,200 mi (10,ooo km) species of deep-sea snail, Alviniconcha hessleri,
been leaking w�te �, workers at the Etali Safari from Brazil to Madagascar-a quarter of the lives near geothermal vents and gets its food
Lodge in North West Province, South Africa, way around the world. She was spotted off the from bacteria that live within its own gills.
discovered the culprit wasn't in fact a water coast of Brazil in 1999 and just over two years
leak-but actually a thirsty elephant. They later, identified by the distinctive markings on W SNAKE I SLAN D Although Shedao Island,
nicknamed the elephant "Troublesome." her tail, she was seen in the Indian Ocean off China, covers only 180 acres (73 ha}, it is home
the East coast of Madagascar. to over 15,000 poisonous pit vipers.
 U I lalieve It or Not!®

TW O ­
H EA D E D
S N AK E n 1 0,000 to one, a two­
Bea ti n g odd s of mo re tha d by
n mil k sna ke wa s hat che
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up. A few day s late r,
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sna ke' s rig ht h ead ate its
ed.
wh ile the left hea d wa tch

X-ray showing where

the snake's spines are
fused together

(;) N EW EYES When seeing-eye dog Edward m M I N I MARVEL Weighing just 2lf2 lb
lost his eyesight, he got his own seeing-eye (1.1 kg), Nancy the Chihuahua has a natural
dog! Edward the Labrador had helped partially talent for herding sheep several times her
sighted Graham Waspe of Suffolk, England, for size. Owner Ali Taylor says that Britain's tiniest
six years but then suffered glaucoma and had sheep dog learned her trade from watching
to have both eyes removed. So another dog, border collies in action.
two-year-old Opal, joined the family and now
helps both Graham and Edward to get around. W H I G H L I FE During construction of the
Shard skyscraper in London, England, a fox
W C H ATTY C H IMP Kanzi, a mature bonobo was found living on the 72nd floor-944 ft
ape, has a vocabulary of around 450 words, up (290 m) above the ground. The animal entered
to 40 of which he uses daily. Dr. Sue Savage­ the building through a central stairwell before
Rumbaugh of Des Moines, Iowa, has taught climbing to the top, where for over two weeks
Kanzi to "speak" by pointing at different it lived on scraps left behind by builders.
symbols on a computer.
W B I G MOUT H Owing to its loosely hinged
W FOUR-FOOTED D U C K A duck born mouth, a gulper eel can swallow prey with a
in China's Guangxi Province had three legs volume ten times the size of its own body.
and four feet. Behind its normal two legs,
the duckling had a third leg with two feet, W SMO K I N G C H IMP A chimpanzee that
probably the result of a genetic mutation. became addicted to smoking cigarettes died
in 2010 at age 52-ten years longer than the
(;) RAI N ALLERGY Researchers in the remote life expectancy of an average chimp. Charlie
mountain forests of Burma have discovered a the Smoking Chimp picked up the unhealthy
species of snub-nosed monkey that sneezes habit from visitors to Manguang Zoo, near
whenever it rains. To avoid getting rainwater Bloemfontein, South Africa, who threw him lit
in its upturned nose, the monkey spends wet cigarettes through the bars of his enclosure.
days sitting with its head between its knees.
W RAB B I T H EAT I NG Up to 6,ooo nuisance
(;) T I TAN I UM TEETH Axel, a prison guard rabbits in Stockholm, Sweden, are culled
dog from Melbourne, Australia, was fitted with each year and taken to an incinerator in
titanium teeth after losing his real ones when Karlskoga where their carcasses are burned and
they shattered as he bit into a bed board. processed for biofuel to heat nearby homes.

•
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• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
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the sea at speeds of up to 90 mph (145 km/h)

CAl w\M
masters at Hojomachi station on the Hojo
kitten . ,an and can reach depths of 30 ft (9 m) below the railway line in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture in
hite-hair lass iar.
a small g .
water surface. To withstand the impact as they
Ksy ush a, a
an attempt to boost visitors to the rail line.
e h erself into
W squee
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someho scow, Ru hit the water, the birds have extra-thick skulls The monkeys wear special blue uniforms and
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es to escap
manag predators, barnacle geese build nests high on
mountain cliffs-and at just three days old, the
tiny goslings must jump from nests as far up as
300 ft (go m) to reach food on the ground.

W KEEP AWAY Mandrill monkeys have

leaned how to perform sign language to tell
other group members to keep away. They
place one hand loosely over their eyes, but
with their fingers parted slightly so that they
can still see. While the hand is in place, the
other mandrills at Colchester Zoo, England,
keep their distance. ·

l:J ClEAN SWEEP A golden retriever uses

a specially made small broom to sweep the
streets of Changchun, J ilin Province, China,
while walking with his owner Xu Ming. The
dog takes the broom everywhere and, under
Xu's instructions, runs in a zigzag pattern to

• • • • • •
sweep away dust and debris.

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th ese thr ntly just for fun.
to smack and stun
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their prey.
bed wire aro und the la mpp ost coul d not stop their craz
Even a ring of bar
m DOUBLE TROUBLE
rocks into the sea off
caq ues h ove also been see n ju mping fro m 9-ft (2. 7-m )
Ma of water.
prim ates that ore not sco re d
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Oscar the Labrador and his
d and ore one of the few
53-year-old master both survived
Thailan •

1 '
with just broken bones after plunging
2oo ft (6o m) over the edge of a cliff in North
Yorkshire, England. After Oscar fell off the cliff,
his owner was desperately trying to work out
how to reach his pet when a strong gust
of wind blew him over the edge, too.

W DANGEROUS DANCE As part of their

courtship ritual, pairs of bald eagles perform
a cartwheel dance, soaring high into the air,
locking their talons together, then spinning out
of control toward the ground, breaking off at
the very last second to fly upward again.

m VERSAT I LE SWIMMER The black ghost

knifefish, found in the rivers of South America, is
able to swim fpr:vvard or backward equally well
and navigates by emitting a small electric charge.

W MAI L M I SERY Toby, a Jack Russell terrier

belonging to Gill Bird of Hampshire, England,
chewed up his owner's mail-and the
combination of the envelope glue and wet
paper glued his mouth shut.

m F I S H OUT OF WATER A 1-ft-long (30-cm)

sturgeon dropped at night from the sky
(probably by a heron) on a lawn in Worcester,
England, was found the next morning, having
survived thanks to the moisture on the grass.

W DAN C I NG DOLPH I NS Wild dolphins are

teaching themselves to "walk" using their tails
on the ocean surface. Researchers in Australia
say dolphins have developed the art of tail­
walking, which seems to have no practical use
and has been compared to dancing in humans.

W GATOR SNATCH After a 6-ft-long (1.8-m)

alligator snatched his Jack Russell terrier
Lizabeth while walking along the Hillsborough
River in Tampa, Florida, Tom Martino fired
shots into the water to force the reptile to
release the dog. He then performed CPR
on Lizabeth until she started breathing again .
• • • • •
• • • ••
• •• • • . . . • .
c: c
• • • • • •
 [;1
SWEET REVENGE m SPEED I NG H ORSE A police roadside
Oystercatcher birds have camera designed to catch speeding drivers in
bladelike beaks for prying Meppen, Germany, caught something different
open shellfish-but on film in July 2011-a runaway horse. The
sometimes their prey does horse had escaped from a paddock and
get the better of them, holding galloped off down a busy main road into the
their beaks in place until the town. The speeding ·d river who triggered the
birds drown. picture pleaded to be excused the automatic

m SH ORT L EGS The Munchkin

fine because he claimed he was simply trying
to get away from the horse.
breed of cats has a mutation
that gives it short legs and a W VULTURE ARRESTED Finding a griffon
stature similar to dachshund or vulture in Hyaal, Saudi Arabia, carrying a GPS
corgi dogs. Although short­ transmitter and a tag from Tel Aviv University,
legged cats were known in the Saudi security services held the bird in
early 2oth century, the breed custody on suspicion of spying for the Israeli
was not rediscovered until 1983 intelligence agency Mossad. However, wildlife
when Louisiana music teacher experts pointed out that the vulture was
Sandra Hochenedel found two simply part of a migration study and the bird
pregnant cats. Half of the kittens was eventually released without charge.
in one litter were short-legged,
and today's Munchkin cats are W COLD COMFORT When the Arctic
descended from that line. ground squirrel goes into hibernation

m B I R D RESC U E When his pet

during long Arctic winters, its body

of water to 26-4 °F (-3°C). ScienJ ists have yet

temperature drops below the freezing point
dog carried a limp goose that had
been hit by a car into the yard of to discover another mammal that survives
his home in Urumchi, China, Yu with such a low body temperature.
Yanping thought the dog would eat
it. Instead, the dog licked the bird W H OU N D H OTEL Alongside its normal
until it recovered, and the two went rooms for human guests, the Riverside Hotel
on to become inseparable, feeding in Evesham, England, has three dog suites that
from the same bowl and even provide luxury accommodation for pets. Dogs
sharing the dog's kennel. staying there can feast from a special canine
menu, swim in a spa pool and have their
W STOWAWAY KITTEN Amy portrait done.
Bindman of Calgary, Canada, found
a kitten in a shipping container sent W CONSTANT COMPAN I ONS Jane Hartley
from China. It had survived being of Loughborough, England, loves her pet
sealed away without food or water parrots Fiz and Buzz so much that she takes
for nearly 45 days. them shopping, cycling, walking and even
skiing. The small birds sit on her hand
W ROBBERS ATTAC KED Two while she cycles, and nestle in her pocket
armed robbers who held up a as she hurtles down Alpine mountains
tobacco store in Altadena, California, during skiing vacations.

[:1 OCTOPUS SPRAY A common octopus

fled after being attacked by the owner's
pet Chihuahua. Little Paco refused to
be intimidated even when one of the at an aquarium in England has been called
robbers pointed a shotgun at him, and Squirt because he deliberately aims a
chased the men out of the shop and jet of water at visitors. The inquisitive
down the street. octopus learned to lift the top part of his
body above the water in his tank so that
W H ORSE FALL A horse stumbled he could look around and then realized
through an open window and landed that if he breathed out while he was doing
in the basement of her owners' home in it, he could fire a stream of water like a hose.
Elbert County, Colorado. It took rescue Octopuses draw water into their body to absorb
teams four hours to get the mare- the oxygen from it and then pass it out again
named Summer-out of the house. through special tubes alongside their beak.
• • ••• • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ••
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W ROTTEN LOOK Nimbochromis livingstonii, W H OURGLASS F I GURE

St'E'E'P 'I
a fish found in Africa's lake Malawi, has the Debbie Pearson of New
blotchy appearance of a rotting fish and lies Orleans, Louisiana, cares for a
nts ,
eat of a
motionless on the lakebed to attract the turtle that grew with a plastic eat'tY mah
A-fter eating ave
ars to h
p ecl<er appe
scavengers on which it preys. ring from a milk jug around the w ood the
green agai nst
middle of its shell. When it was n c aug h t dozing
be e
ee in
f this tr
br anch o
W SPIN CYCLE An eight-week-old kitten a tiny hatchling, it crawled into
ershire,
named Princess survived an hour-long spin in a the ring which proceeded to grow w orcest
.
washing machine after creeping unnoticed into around it so that its shell now Engtand
the drum. It was only when her owner, Susan resembles a figure eight.

m RESCU E C ENTER Ha Wenjin

Gordon of Aberdeen, Scotland, was removing
the dean items from the machine that she
spotted the sodden kitten. gave up her job and sold her house,
car and jewelry to adopt more than
W BUNNY CART The O'Rourke family of 1,500 stray dogs at her rescue center
Tucson, Arizona, discovered an abandoned in Nanjing, China. She employs 12
baby rabbit in their garden that could not use people to care for the dogs and to
his hind legs. They built a little cart on wheels look after 200 adopted cats at a
and strapped it to the rabbit's rear so that he second center nearby.
no longer had to drag his legs behind him.

TI N G A WA Y FR O M EA CH O THER,
TO KEEP FROM DR IF
E THEY SLEEP.
•

S H O L D PA W S W H IL �·

SEA O TTER
m BODY H EAT Sea otters lack blubber
W W I D E W I N GS Queen Alexandra's to insulate themselves, so they must eat
Birdwing-a butterfly found only in Papua up to one-quarter of their body weight
New Guinea-c�m grow to have a 1-ft-long every day in order to generate enough
{3o-cm) wingspan . heat to keep warm.

•
•
W H I D DEN MENACE People swam about in
a public pool in Darwin, Australia, unaware
that a 2o-in (so-em) baby saltwater crocodile
was lurking in the deep end. The reptile, which
was thought to be a rubber toy until it tried to
bite a handler, was rescued and released back
into the wild.

W RE I N DEER REF LECT I ONS In an attempt

to reduce the number of car crashes that kill
around soo reindeer each year in Norway,
2,ooo of the animals were fitted with reflective
yellow collars or small antler tags, making
them more visible in the dark.

W F IS H Y TALE Two goldfish survived

134 days without food or electricity to
power their tank filter following the 2011
earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Shaggy and Daphne-named after Scooby
Doo characters-spent over four months left
unattended in an accountants' reception area,
but pulled through by eating algae growing on
the side of the tank.

W D R U N KEN OWL A brown owl was spotted

sitting by the side of a busy road in Pforzheim,
Germany, seemingly oblivious to passing
traffic. The feathery friend did not appear to
be injured, but one of its eyelids was drooping
noticeably. Looking around, police found two
empty bottles of Schnapps nearby and realized
that in fact the bird was drunk. So the police
took the owl into custody and gave it plenty of
water until it sobered up .

•
• •
•
 •

W COPYCAT SQU I RREL J im Watkins of Carthage,

Mississippi, rescued a stranded baby squirrel that his
pet cat and her kittens then adopted. The squirrel soon
�u
learned how to rr for affection like a cat.

W AlB I N O ACTORS Showbiz manager Tom Beser

has set up the world's first acting agency for albino
animals. From his base in Rheinfelden , Germany, he
leases his collection of albino creatures-including
lizards, minks and a raccoon-to moviemakers for
films and TV commercials.

W CRAC K I NG CROWS Crows in Japan have been

seen placing walnuts on roads, waiting for cars to drive
over them to crack open the shells, and then flying
back to feast on the nuts' contents.

W ANC I ENT TORTO I SE Jonathan, a giant tortoise on

the South Atlantic island of St. Helena, is at least 178
years old. His life has spanned eight British monarchs
and 37 U.S. Presidents, yet he still has the energy to
mate with three younger females. The St. Helena five­
pence coin has a picture of Jonathan on its reverse.

W MIMI C K I N G MOM A keeper at China's Wuhan

Zoo has to wear a black-and-white-striped T-shirt every
day to persuade a newborn, orphaned zebra that he is
its mother. Chen Nong realized that whenever he wore
black and white the baby zebra became excited, and
soon it would take milk from him only if he wore that
zebralike shirt.
• • • •
• • •
 t:l A H EL P I N G PAW Sandie, a Sheltie-
collie and Staffordshire bull terrier cross, has
performed countless jobs for her disabled
owner Sue Line of Coventry, England, including
doing the shopping, the laundry and paying
for the groceries. On trips to the store, Sandie
puts the shopping in a bag, which she carries
in her mouth, and at the checkout she can take
money from Sue's purse and hand it to the
sales clerk. Sandie loads the washing machine,
separating the dirty clothes into light and dark
piles, and locks the machine door before the
cycle begins. She has also learned how to
unlock the kitchen door to let herself out to
the toilet-and always remembers to close it
behind her on her way back.

t:l NOSE FOR W I N E With a nose that is G.l CAN I N E COUPLE Louise Harris of Essex,
[:) PR IZE PIGLET A court in Primorye, Russia, 2,ooo times more sensitive than a human's, England, spent more than f2o,ooo on an
seized a woman's piglet in October 2010 to pay bloodhound Louisa Bella has been trained elaborate wedding ceremony, complete with
her overdue debt after it was judged that the as a wine tester by her owners, wine label outdoor marquee, for her Yorkshire terrier
animal was her most valuable possession. proprietors Michelle Edwards and Daniel Fischl Lola, and Mugly, a Chinese crested dog. On her

m SH OW-J UMPING COW Regina Mayer

of Melbourne, Australia. After just two weeks special day, Lola wore a f1,ooo wedding dress
of training, she could sniff out a tainted wine customized with 1,8oo Swarovski crystals. Her
from Laufen, Germany, has trained a cow on cork within 30 seconds. outfit was adorned with a £400 pearl necklace,
the family farm to jump fences like a horse. £250 Swarovski crystal leg cuffs and a £350
. ;. .
Denied a horse by her parents, teen Regina G.l TERR I ER TERROR Sucked up by a twister Swarovski crystal leash. The groom looked
fulfilled her riding ambitions by spending that raged through Birmingham, Alabama, in resplendent in a tuxedo before the happy
hours training Luna the cow to get accustomed April 2on, Mason, a terrier mongrel, managed couple and their canine guests wolfed down
to having a rider on her back and to wearing to crawl back to his owners' home three weeks a buffet of dog-friendly cupcakes.
a halter and saddle. Luna now understands later despite suffering
commands such as "go," "stand" and "gallop." two broken front legs.

t:lBEAR N ECESSI TY
Scientists working north
of Alaska tracked a polar
bear that swam for nine
days straight, 426 mi
(687 km) across the
Beaufort Sea to an ice
floe. That's the equivalent
to the distance between
Washington, D.C., and
Boston, Massachusetts.
Polar bears have been
forced to swim longer
distances to reach land
in areas where the sea
ice is shrinking.

- - -·- - - - • - -
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W POOP FOR GOLD Dog owners in New I s it a hi h u ah
c u \ a r fl y i n g c
ct a of
fil Taipei City, Taiwan, were given the chance to the sp e l m d ohl
lONG J O U R N EY Four months after
h e r J ames Ha
ra p - Ib
p h ot og e s hi s s
disappearing from her home in Cornwall, turn their pets' poop into gold. In an attempt a t t a ch

2. .
,

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or e g o n o a
send , o a i sy t
England, a collie named Lucy mysteriously to dean up the streets, anyone handing in a na me d
3 - k g) d o g o n s a nd
llo
turned up soo mi (Boo km) away in a bag of dog poop was entered in a lucky draw,
o f h e lium ba t a
cl u s t e r s ki e s a
garden in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her owners, the top prize for which was $2,100 in gold bars. s o a r i nt o th e
r
sees he p a ra d e .
Sonya and Billy McKerron, made a 20-hour of J u\y
f o u rth
round trip to collect her. r1l SEA DOG Just Nuisance, a Great Dane
from Simon's Town, South Africa, was
W SN I FFER H OGS Believe it or not, wild hogs inducted into the British Royal Navy in 1939.
can detect smells up to 7 mi (11 km) away and He never went to sea, but as an official W JAWS BEAC H In September 2010, a
25 ft (7.6 m) underground. Able Seaman he performed a number of fisherman caught a tiger shark off Jaws Beach

m M I SS I NG MATE Pei Pei, a male orangutan

promotional duties ashore and was once in the Bahamas and a human left leg fell
taken up in a plane to look for submadnes. from its mouth. When the shark's belly was
at China's Yunnan Wild Animal Park, was so He was buried with full military honors in slit open, police found a right leg, two arms
distraught when his mate La Tewhen was 1944 and a statue was erected in his memory. and a torso, and were able to use fingerprints
moved to an adjoining enclosure while she was Since 2ooo, there has been an annual parade to identify the victim as a missing sailor. The
pregnant that he started digging a tunnel in the of Great Danes in Simon's Town from which beach was used as the location for the 1987
hope of being reunited with her. the best look-alike is chosen. shark movie Jaws: The Revenge.

• •• • • •• •• ••• • •• • • • • • • • • • • •
•• • •
• • ••• • •• • • ••• • • • •• ••
[;.1 $ 1 .5M PU PPY A red Tibetan mastiff A L K I I\I C U PP GHT Treasure, a
puppy named Hong Dong was sold for one-year-old poodle, prefers to walk upright
$1.5 million in 2011. Tibetan mastiffs are on his hind legs rather than on all four.
fierce guard dogs and are rarely found outside His owner, Dou Xianhui of Jilin City, China,
Tibet, which makes them highly exclusive and briefly trained Treasure to walk on two legs
sought-after. Hong Dong was bred in Qingdao, when he was a puppy-but now he walks
China, and weighed more than 180 lb (82 kg) like that for up to 30 minutes at a time.
at 11 months.

[;.1 TREE-EAT I NG F I SH A newly discovered

[i1 DOGG I E FACELI FTS Grandmother
Amanda Booth from Melbourne, Australia, is
species of armored catfish in the Amazon using her life savings to pay $15,000 a year on
chews on the wood of fallen trees. Whereas face lifts for Shar Pei dogs to prevent them from
other types of catfish use their teeth to scrape suffering eye problems. The designer dogs
organic matter from the surfaces of submerged are bred to have folds of floppy flesh on their
wood, this species actually ingests wood. face, but the heavy skin forces their eyelids to
The wood is subsequently expelled as waste, turn in, ca�sing their eyelashes to scratch their
passing through the fish's body in less than cornea, often leading to blindness.
four hours.
r More than 15 people
[i1 H I PPO HYGI ENE At China's Shanghai swimming off a popular tourist river beach
Zoo, keepers use giant toothbrushes to clean in Ciceres, Brazil, lost toes and chunksJ of
the teeth of adult hippos. The hippos, whose their legs and ankles in November 2011 after
mouths measure up to 4 ft (1.2 m) wide, are thousands of flesh-eating piranhas flooded
fed on fruit and vegetables, which would clog the river. Piranhas are common in rivers on
up their teeth if they weren't brushed three the outskirts of Ciceres, but this was the first
times a week. time they had infiltrated the city itself.
 ?1

Connie baths the monkeys

to keep them clean and then
dresses one of them in pajamas
and takes it to bed with her.

t
b s, h er nv e pe
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W H ASTY H I PPOS With a top speed of W B I RD'S-EYE V I EW In a case of real life W SCREAM I N G TAD POLES Scientists in
around 25 mph (40 km/h}, an adult hippo imitating art, Bobby Haas took a stunning Argentina have discovered tadpoles that can
can outrun a person in a short sprint. Hippos aerial photograph of a colony of hundreds scream. The larvae of the Argentine horned
keep fit by walking up to 6 mi (10 km) a night of flamingoes off the coast of the Yucatan frog, which are carnivorous and eat other
foraging for food. Peninsula, Mexico, that had arranged species of tadpole, emit a short, audible
themselves into the shape of a giant flamingo. "metallic-like" sound.
liJ MON KEY BOU NTY In October 2010,
Yuki Yoneyama of Mishima, Japan, claimed a liJNO EYES Rowan, a German Spitz dog liJFEATH ERED F I E N D Shanna Sexton of
2oo,ooo-yen ($2,6oo) bounty for capturing a owned by Sam Orchard of Bedfordshire, Devon, England, became so annoyed by
wild macaque monkey that had bitten more England, was born without eyes but is able what she thought was a faulty s mpke alarm
than 100 people. to navigate its way around by echolocation, sounding nonstop for seven days that she
using its barks. called in workmen to try to locate the problem.
W TOX IC MUD The bearded goby fish of Then she discovered the culprit was an African
coastal Africa thrives in toxic mud, can live for Gray Parrot named Sammi, who had escaped
hours without oxygen and eats jellyfish. from a neighbor's house and spent the week
hidden in Shanna's garden mimicking the
liJAG ILE GOAT When Yang Yang the goat beeping sound of an alarm.
was born without hind legs in Liaoning
Province, China, farmer Lu Shanlu W RARE FLY The Terrible Hairy
trained the animal to walk on its Fly is a flightless species of
forelegs. Within three months, fly that breeds in bat feces
Yang Yang could run around and has only been found
his yard several times on two in a single Kenyan cave. A
legs without stopping. specimen collected in 2010
was the first to be tracked
W RODENT COUTURE In May down since 1948.
2011, New York City staged a
fashion show with a difference­ W COOL ROOSTERS To
the models were all rats. The prevent fights breaking out
sociable rodents showed their between rival roosters, farmers
loveable side, dressed in miniature in Chengdu, China, clothed the
tutus, wedding dresses and other flattering birds in plastic John Lennon-style
outfits. Rats have become popular pets in sunglasses. The eyewear made it difficult
recent years. for them to see each other clearly and so made
them less aggressive.
liJ GUARD GOAT Zhao Huaiyun of Sichuan
Province, China, has trained his pet goat to This 14-day tadpole appears to be smiling W ROLL I NG TOADS Venezuela's pebble
act as a guard dog. As well as warding off for the camera. Snapped by British science toad flees predators by rolling like a ball down
stray dogs from his owner's property, the goat photographer David Spears using a the rocky inclines of its mountainous home-
.
makes sure Zhao answers his cell phone, if he high-powered electron microscope, the baby without coming to any harm. Pebble toads
hasn't heard it, by running up to him, putting frog displays facial features that are normally breed communally, and a single nest has been
its forelegs on his arms and baaing nonstop. invisible to the naked eye. found to contain 103 toads and 321 eggs.

!!! _ • • •
•• • • • • •• •
•• • • • • • • • •
·- - - -- ---
•
 CJ BEAVER I NG AWAY Beavers within
Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta,

<< Y O UR
Canada, have spent decades building and
maintaining a massive dam that measures
a staggering half a mile (Boo m) long.

W B I G SC H OOL Schools of Atlantic herring

can stretch for more than 25 mi (40 km) and UP LO AD S
number millions of individual fish. www . r i p l eys . com/subm i t

m F I GHT I NG SPU RS Several species of South P o u l t ry b r e e d e r D i a n e K o l p i n

American birds called screamers have spurs on f r o m La k e P l a c i d , F l o r i d a , s e n t
their wings that they use for fighting. The spurs u s t h i s p i c t u re o f a b a by c h i c k e n
can break off in another bird's body, but will
w i t h o u t a ny eye s . T h e b i rd h a d
n o eye s o c k e t s a t a l l-j u s t s k i n
grow back.
a n d f e a t h e rs w h e re i t s e y e s
s h o u l d b e-y e t , g iv e n l ov i n g
W Ll G H T SWARM A worker honeybee
c a r e , i t h a s g rown i n t o a
weighs about 1/3ooth of an ounce (90 mg),
h e a l t h y , i f b l i n d , b i rd .
meaning that a swarm of 50,ooo bees weighs

• '--' • • • • •
only 10 lb (4.5 kg).

• • • • • • u u
• • .
• •• • • • • • • • • • • • •
LJ
u

•
 UEGUESS
HEROES
0 Despite being born with only one
leg, Anthony Robles of Arizona State
University became a national wrestling
champion in h is weight class.

0 Born without legs, Vinod Thakur

learned to walk on his hands at h is home
in Delhi, India, and became a worldwide

the TV show India's Got Talent.

sensation as a legless h i p-hop dancer on W RECORD
SCORE During a
marathon 81f2-hour
0 Legless Montana State photography
innings, 13-year-old Indian
student Kevin Connolly took 32,000
cricketer Armaan Jaffer
pictures while traveling through 15
smashed 498 runs
countries on a skateboard capturing the
off 490 balls in a match
expressions on people's faces when they
in Mumbai in December
first saw h i m . He wears a body shoe to
2010-the highest
protect his torso whi le taking pictures.
individual score ever
0 Huang J ianm i ng climbed the Great recorded in Indian school cricket.
Wall of China for two hours in 2006, (:J H I GH BASKET From the
using the strength of his arms to push W FOOTBALL FASH I O N ISTAS The University top of a light tower that was
himself up the steps. H is legs had been of Oregon football team wears a different style almost 220 ft (67 m) above
amputated in 1994 after he fell from uniform every game. They have 512 different the ground, basketball stunt team How
a speeding train carriage. color combinations to choose from and only Ridiculous (comprising Derek Herron, Brett
0 Amputee athlete Lance Benson decide on game day which one to wear. Stanford, Scott Gaunson and Kyle Nebel) sank

[;I U N BROKEN R U N From 1992 to 2010,

of Raleigh, North Carolina, uses a an incredible basket at the Western Australia
skateboard to compete in marathons, Cricket Association Ground in Perth in 2011.
and finished the N ew York City Marathon National Football League quarterback Brett
in j ust 3 hours 37 m i n utes in 2005. Favre started in 297 consecutive games. W ARMLESS PITCH ER Born without arms,
Tom Willis from San Diego, California, has
0 Xu Yuehua lost both legs when she
W DANGEROUS H A I R Australian Rules thrown out the ceremonial first pitch at more
was 12 but, balancing her torso on two
footballer Nathan van Someren, who plays for than a dozen Major League baseball games.
stools and using them to move around,
Victorian side Simpson Tigers, was sent off by He throws the ball with his right foot, and his
she has spent more than 37 years raising
the umpire in 2011 because his gelled mohawk pitches usually make the entire distance from
over 130 children in a social welfare
haircut was considered dangerous and might the mound to home plate (6o ft 6 in/18.4 m)
i nstitute in Xiangtan, China.
have poked another player in the eye. without bouncing.
0 Losing his legs as a teenager has
not stopped B razilian skateboarder
ltalo Romano performing gravity-defying
stunts in tournaments across the world.

WS
IT TAKES 3, 000 CO
TO SUPPLY THE NFL WOITRH
·

ENOUGH LEA THER F

A YEA R 'S SUPPLY
OF FOO TBALL S.
•
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 • •• •
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Altho u g h h e was born with

n o legs and sta nds i ust 3 ft
(90 em) ta l l, Bobby Marti n of
D ayto n, Ohio, is a formidable
opponent o n the footba l l fi eld.
Encouraged by coaches, he
·· p layed as a d efe nsive tackle
for his hig h-school tea m a n d
has since g o n e o n t o p lay a t
his l ocal col lege. Far from
being a h andica p, the 24-year­
old father, who suffers from a
rare conditi o n called Caudal
.t; Regressio n Syndrome mea ning
his body e nds at h is pelvis, says
h is size a ctually h e l ps h i m play
fi1 BRAVE S W
IMM ER Despi footbal l . "My arms are like my
te los i ng
nearly half legs, so they are very stron g,"
his body in C
hina's 2008
earthquake, Sich uan he says. '1To hit well in the
Dai Guoh ong
has become
on e of tackle you have to be low, a nd
fi1 H AR E- B RA
his co u ntry 's
top s wim me rs.
He lost both I N ED A greyho
whe n they we legs
Shepparton,
un d race in h ow ca n you g et l ower tha n
re crus hed un Australia, d
der ton s of ru escen ded i nto me?" H e uses a skateboard to
after th e roo b ble chaos
f of his Beichu after a real h
an school coll are spri nted ac
kill ing 26 of his apsed, ross the track g et aro u n d a n d is so strong that
class mates. front of th e s in

W
peeding dogs. h e can lift three times his body
On e greyho
Gin ny Lo u, in un d,
third place at weig ht-over 3 30 l b ( 1 50 kg) .
H UMP J UMP chas e, but th
th e tim e, ga
ve
In the Ye m eni e hare esca
jump ing, com sport of cam ped. Altho u The o n ly problem he has ever
el lou 's deto ur gh Gin ny
petitors leap
over rows of
cam els
mean t she fin
ish ed last, t encou ntered playin g footbal l
lin ed up side- was declared he race
by-side. Whoe void an yway. was w h e n h e was sent off i n
ver can jum p
the most is t over
he winn er. a g a m e i n C i n ci n nati because
h e wasn't wea ri n g thigh pads,
kneepads or boots. The ru ling
was later overturned.

Budding rodeo riders typically under the age of

six and weighing no more than 60 lb (27 kg) try
to hold on to a 1 80-lb {81 -kg) ewe for six seconds
in the sport of Mutton Bustin' that is sweeping the
U.S.A. To prevent iniury, the young riders wear ice­
hockey helmets, face guards and protective vests.
 The YUKON ARCTIC ULTRA is a grueling Competitors in the NORTH POLE MARATHON
43o-mi (692-km) marathon on mountain run on ice for 26.2 miles (42 km) around the
bike, skis and foot where temperatures can North Pole in temperatures of -22°F (-30°C).
drop to -58°F (-50°C) plus windchill, making
The BADWATER ULTRAMARATHON is run
it the coldest race on the planet.
over 135 mi (217 km) in California's Death
Crossing mountain routes through Germany, Valley, starting at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level
Austria, Switzerland and Italy for eight days, and ending at an altitude of 8,360 ft (2,548 m).
the 2oo-mi (32o-km) TRANSALPINE RUN has a Temperatures top a blistering l20°F (49°C) in
vertical ascent of over 49,200 ft (15,000 m). the shade.

The six-day MARATHON OF THE SANDS covers Brazil's seven-day JUNGLE MARATHON is run
150 mi (240 km) of Moroccan desert, one-fifth over a distance of 150 mi (240 km) through the
of which is run over strength-sapping sand treacherous Amazon rain forest. Competitors
dunes in 122°f (50°C) heat. sleep in hammocks along the route.
 [;) CARELESS HANDS Goalkeeper Maarten
Stekelenburg, who is regarded as having one
of the safest pairs of hands in European soccer,
[;) DEADlY GAME Football was a dangerous tarnished his reputation in May 2011 when he
game in its formative years-during the accidentally dropped the league trophy off
1905 U.S. college football season, 18 players the top of a bus as it drove through Amsterdam
were killed while on the field and another to celebrate Ajax winning the Dutch title.
150 were seriously injured. Coincidentally, just weeks earlier, Real Madrid's
Sergio Ramos dropped the Copa del Rey trophy
(:1EASY CATC H Jason Kresse of Freeport, (:1P I ER PRESSU RE Harnessing winds of more off the top of an open-top bus in Spain and
Texas, was out fishing for red snapper in than 6o mph (96 km/h) on November 11, could only watch helplessly as it was run over
the Gulf of Mexico in March 2011 when a 2010, kiteboarder lewis Crathern of Worthing, by the bus's wheels.
375-lb (170-kg) mako shark leaped into his boat England, became the first person to jump clean
without provocation, thrashing about and over Brighton Pier. He navigated the waves for W T I ED F I N ISH Five runners�Brad Weiss,
.• .

damaging the vessel before dying hours later. about two hours before finally finding one big Chris Solarz, Terence Gerchberg, Stephen
enough to launch him on his death-defying England and Francis lares-finished the 2011
leap over the so-ft-high (15-m) pier. God's Country Marathon in Coudersport,
Pennsylvania, in 3 hours 26 minutes-while
tethered together.
 •

•
B?
II
Ill

c.lKITEBOARD CROSS I N G Russian extreme

sport enthusiasts Yevgeny Novozheev and
Konstantin Aksyonov became the first people
to cross the 6o-mi (97-km) Bering Strait from
Russia to Alaska by kiteboard. During their
seven-hour journey, they survived water
temperatures of 34° F (1°C), a fierce storm
and a collision with a whale.

W FAKE TEAM A team of imposters

masquerading as the Togolese national soccer
team played a friendly match in Bahrain in
2010 and lost 3-0. Before the deception came
to light, the Bahrainis said they had been
surprised by the poor quality of the Togo
players. Former Togo coach Tchanile Bana was
later banned from soccer for three years for
organizing the fake national team.

c.l DOUBLE ACE Golfer Adam Smith from

Aberdeenshire, Scotland, beat odds of
67 million to one by getting two holes-in-one
in the space of seven holes during a round of
golf at nearby Stonehaven in January 2011.

W EXTRA LARGE Former Welsh international

soccer player Robbie Savage managed to wear
soccer shirts from all 72 English Football League W PU N TER'S J OY In March 2011, Steve
dubs at the same time. Whiteley from Devon, England, used his
bus pass to get to Exeter racecourse for free,
c.lBASEBAll Rt:>BOT A robot created by entered for free through a promotion, and then
engineers at the University of Pennsylvania proceeded to win more than £1.4 million from
threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a 2011 a £2 bet. The 61-year-old heating engineer, who
Major League baseball game between the goes to the races only twice a year, backed
Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee the winning horse in all six races at total odds
Brewers. The one-armed, three-wheeled robot of 879,138 to one. Making his wager all the
was based on a Segway and used a pneumatic more remarkable, Jessica Lodge, the victorious
cylinder and a burst of compressed carbon jockey in the Last race, had never previously
dioxide to throw the ball. ridden a winner.

ONJULY2, 20/l
W I RON MAN Seventy-year-old pastor •
..

212BODYBDARDER A WORLD-RECORD
Bob Kurtz-known as "Golf's Iron Man"­
completed 1,850 holes of golf over a seven-day
period at Quail Creek Golf Resort, Hartselle,
SIMULTANEOUS S GATHEREDIN
Alabama, in June 2011. Despite playing for
LYATFIGUEIRA THEWATER
16 hours a day in temperatures touching l00°F
DA FDl PORTUG
(38°C), he still shot an average score of just AL •

74 (par for the course is 72), and shot better c.lE N D U RANCE RACE The 2011 Hoka
than his age four times. Hey Motorcycle Challenge traveled through
48 U.S. states and part of Canada, from Mesa, W SURPRISE CAT C H Angler John Goldfinch
C) DUMPL I N G D UMPED Pittsburgh Pirates Arizona, to Sydney, Nova Scotia-a journey of from Exmouth, England, fought to reel in
baseball team fired one of their pierogi mascots over 14,000 mi (22,530 km). Entry is limited to what he thought was a huge fish pulling on
(the guys who race around the stadium in Harley-Davidson bikers, and during tbe event his line-only to find that it was in fact a
dumpling costumes) after he criticized the riders must never sleep more than 10 ft (3 m) scuba diver he had Landed instead. He
team management on Facebook. Andrew Kurtz away from their bike, which rules out nights had been casting his line hoping to catch
was immediately offered employment as a hot in hotels. The race was won for the second mackerel, but his hook caught the
dog by a minor-League team before the Pirates successive year by Florida's Will Barclay, who submerged diver between the legs some

• • • • • II • • • •
had a change of heart and rehired him. completed the course in just two weeks. so ft (15 m) from shore.

•• • • • • • • •• • • •
• •• • • • • • • • . . ..... . . �· - � ! • •
LJ LJ u u L.J L]
• II M
 W T R I PlE BAC KFLI P On May 28, 2011, BMX
rider Jed Mildon landed the world's first triple
[;} STRA I G H T Oll i ES On J uly 16, 2011, Eric Carlin, backflip at Unit T3 Mindtricks BMX Jam in his
18, of Mount laurel, Pennsylvania, strung together hometown of Taupo, New Zealand. He nailed
a record 247 straight ollies on a skateboard without the record-breaking jump by riding down a
his feet ever touching the ground. An ollie is a trick 66-ft-high (2o-m) ramp carved into a hillside.
where the rider and skateboard leap into the air
without the rider using his or her hands. W MON KEY SEC U R I TY Indian authorities
�
used 38 trained gray langur m nkeys during
[;} H IGH GROUN D Pakistan stages a the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi
polo tournament high up on the Shandur to frighten away other monkeys from the
Mountain Pass-12,251 ft (3,734 m) above athletes' village.
sea level-in which teams from the towns
on either side, Gilgit and Chitral, play each
other every year.

W SNOWSHOE RACE The midwinter

La Ciaspolada foot race in Italy has been
held annually since 1972, with its contestants
wearing snowshoes from start to finish.
It is run over a 5-mi (8-km) course in the
Dolomite Mountains and attracts up
to 6,ooo entrants each year.

W F ISH ERMAN'S F R I E N D
Heather, a 40-year-old, 52-lb
(23.6-kg) carp living in a pond
in Hampshire, England, had
been caught and released
hundreds of times before she
was found dead in 2010.

[;} MU lT I NAT I O NAL MA

The English Premier league
soccer match between Blac
Rovers and West Bromwich
Albion on January 23, 2011,
featured players representing
22 different countries.

• • • • • •
••
• • • • • • •• • · =
••• • • • •• • •
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of th e th

m BlUE GlOW Angel Glow is a rare

battlefield condition where an injured
soldier's wound begins glowing blue. It is
caused by glowing bacteria that typically
inhabit the guts of worms.

W FALSE TOES Two artificial big toes dating

back over 2,6oo years to Ancient Egypt were
probably the world's first functional prosthetic
body parts. One of the false toes, made from
wood and leather, resides at the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo while the other, made from

£;1 PUll i N G H ER lEG While fishing on [;t OlD EST WOMAN? Antisa Khvichava,
a mix of linen, glue and plaster, is on display
at the British Museum in london, England.
Replicas of the artificial toes were tested on lake Ida in Alexandria, Minnesota, Beth a woman from a remote mountain village in
modern volunteers, whose big right toe had Krohn caught a prosthetic leg that Pam Riley Georgia, claimed to have celebrated her 131st
been lost, in order to prove that the limbs had lost while swimming in the lake three birthday on July 8, 2011. Although her original
had a practical use and had not simply been years earlier. Krohn returned the leg to birth certificate has been lost, documents and­
attached to the foot during mummification Riley after tracking her down through a evidence from her family support her age
for religious or ritualistic reasons. local prosthetic limb manufacturer. claim. If true, she would be the oldest person
in recorded history.

W TWO UVU LAS Ben Duvall of Missouri was

born with not one uvula-the small piece
of soft tissue that hangs down from the soft

UP LO A D S palate over the back of the tongue-but two.

www . r i p l eys . com/subm i t W ATE TOES As 61-year-old diabetic James

R i c k y N a k a m u ra f r o m Se a t t l e , little slept in his home at Roseburg, Oregon,
Wa s h i n g t o n , w r o t e t o t e l l u s his dog ate three of his toes. The dog was
about his curious nasal a bi l ity. thought to have been acting instinctively to
H e i s a b l e t o c r a c k , fl a t t e n a n d help remove diseased flesh, and Mr. little felt
fo ld t h e carti l a g e i n h i s n o s e nothing because numbness in the hands or feet

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
wi t h o u t fe e l i n g a n y p a i n . is a symptom of diabetes.

•• • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • •
•• • • •• • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • ••••
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 Based on medical research, Alexa ndra Daisy Ginsberg a n d James !< i ng's
desi g n piece Scatalog demo nstrates how special E. chromi bacteria ca n
• •
COLORED be used to change the color of a person's poop to indicate the presen ce

POOP
II of disease in the body. A team of biolog ists from Cambridge U niversity
genetica lly engi neered the bacteria which, on detecti ng disease in the h u man
g ut, secretes a color sig na l-red, green, yellow, brown, blue or violet-that is
visible i n the feces. Each color denotes a different disease.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• -
•• - - • - - •- • -
, .. • -- - - •-• • ..•..•. . . • • •
.. .
• • • • • • •
- - ··- ·
• • •
£:1 D I ED TWI C E A woman died from shock e!TWI NS SEPARATED A team of British
after waking up to find that she was at her doctors at london's Great Ormond Street
own funeral. Fagilyu Mukhametzyanov, 49, Hospital for Children successfully separated
of Kazan, Russia, had been wrongly declared Sudanese-born twins Rital and Ritag Gaboura
dead by doctors, but she died for real after who were born joined at the head-a
hearing people praying for her soul. condition where the chances of survival are
just one in ten million. Although the twins
e! SKELETON FOUND Hanged in 1821 for did not share brain tissue, they did share
murdering his former girlfriend, John Horwood vital arteries and nerves. The blood
finally received a proper burial 190 years later flow between their brains made the
after his family tracked down his skeleton operation particularly difficult.
to the University of Bristol, England, science
laboratory where it had been displayed with f:lMODERN STYLES A study of hair
the noose still around its neck. Following his samples of mummies showed that
execution, Horwood's body had been publicly Ancient Egyptians used to style their
dissected, and the skin removed and used to hair like Marilyn Monroe and Rihanna.
bind a book about the case. They used fat-based products as gels, tried to
curl their hair with tongs and even plaited it
£:1 ll FE SAVER Days away from death in extensions.

m MISSI NG YEARS For almost two

because of a muscle-wasting disease called
Duchenne syndrome, a 15-year-old Italian boy
became the world's first child to be given a months in 2008, 28-year-old Naomi Jacobs
permanent artificial heart-an implant that of Manchester, England, was convinced that
should give him at least another 20 years of it was 1992 and that she was a 15-year-old
normal life. His new heart is powered through schoolgirl about to take her exams. Mobile
a plug positioned behind his left ear and is phones and the Internet were a mystery to her,
connected to a battery that he keeps on a belt. and she had no idea who her n-year-old son
The battery is charged during the night like a Leo was or any recollection of giving birth to
mobile phone. him. She was suffering from Transient Global
Amnesia, a form of memory loss brought on by
stress. Her memory started to return after eight
weeks� but it was another three years before
she fully recovered.

BACK LAWN f:lN EW SKi llS Before losing half her brain
C h inese performance a rtist Ya ng in a 2008 car crash in St. Petersburg, Russia,
Zhichao had g rass fro m the Taisia Sidorova was right-handed and displayed
Suzhou River surgica l ly impla nted no artistic talent-but since the accident she
i nto his back without a n esth esia. has become a skilled artist who paints with her
T h e surgeon made two i ncisio ns in left hand.
Ya ng's shou lder before planti n g
t h e freshly picked g rass i nto t h e
Owi n g t o his ability
i ntense pai n, Ya ng
IU .obiects surgica l ly
�]lj�: l eg a nd stomach
' . ..
n u m ber bra n ded
 LLL± I

BIGGEST
BREASTS
With a bra size of 1 02ZZZ,
America n Annie H awkins-Tu rner
(wh o goes u nder the stag e nome
N o rm a Stitz) h as the biggest
n atu ral breasts in the world.
T h ey wei g h a combined 1 1 2 lb
(5 1 kg)-o third of her total body
weig ht. Her c leavage is 3 ft 6 i n
( 1 .07 m ) long . . . a n d sti l l g rowin g .
 II
l:l

U!SIGN!R
PROPHET I C TATTOO? When he was
arrested in May 2011 on suspicion of assault,

SCARS
Robert Kennedy of Horry County, South
Carolina, had a tattoo on his forehead that
Instead of tattoos, some people now read: "Please forgive me if I say or do anything
choose scarification, the technique stupid. Thank you."
of cutting or scratching permanent
designs into the skin with a sharp (;) SMEL LY U R I N E Thorpe Park theme park
surgical scalpel. One of the in Surrey, England, asked visitors to provide
world's leading scarifiers is smelly urine samples so that the foulest odor
Ryan Ouellette, who works at could be re-created for a new horror attraction
Precision Body Arts in Nashua, alongside the smells of burning hair and
New Hampshire, and who rotting meat. To stand a chance of winning
started out by cutting small the $750 first prize for the smelliest pee,
patterns into his own leg participants were advised to drin k alcohol
with a sewing needle. He
or coffee and to eat garlic or asparagus.
says that bleeding usually
stops five minutes after
W H ER H I TLER! During World War II, British
a line has been cut and
scientists devised a plan to smuggle female
that a new layer of
skin will form over the sex hormones into the food of German dictator
finished design within Adolf Hitler to make him turn into a woman!
two weeks. They hoped that by slipping undetectable
estrogen into the Nazi leader's meals, he
would become more feminine and generally
· less aggressive.

l:l SEVERED FOOT In an attempt

to save a patient's severed left foot,
doctors in Zhengzhou, China, attached
it to the calf of his right leg. Ma J un
lost his foot after slipping into a
concrete mixer on a building site, and
his left leg was too badly damaged for
it to be reattached straightaway. So in a
12-hour operation, doctors transplanted the
foot onto his right calf so that it could grow
new skin, tissue and muscles before being
reattached in its rightful place.
(;) TElLTALE TATTOOS Grant Dey of
(;) B I O N I C F I NGERS After losing fingers Christchurch, New Zealand, has his face
on both hands to blood poisoning when she covered in flame tattoos-and in September
was a toddler, 15-year-old Chloe Holmes from 2011 he was convicted of deliberately burning
Swindon, England, has been fitted with a full down his neighbor's house.
set of bionic digits on her left hand, enabling
her to pick up things for the first time. The false W COLORED SWEAT Exposure to certain
fingers are controlled by electronic signals from dyes, foods and chemicals can cause
the nerve endings in her hand. chromhidrosis-colored sweat that usually
appears on the face and underarms in a
W D R IVER SKEWERED Andrew Linn of variety of bright hues-red, blue, green,
Las Vegas, Nevada, survived being speared yellow or black.
through the face with a 2-in-wide (s-cm) metal
pole after falling unconscious at the wheel (;) SI LENCE ON COU RT! The grunts
of his car, veering off the road and plowing and screams that famously accompany
into a chain-link fence. The pole tore through every tennis shot hit by Russian player
his face just below the right side of his nose, Maria Sharapova regularly reach 101 decibels­
ripping out some of his teeth, before exiting that's louder than the roar of a freight train
through the back of his neck. at full speed.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• •• • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • • •
• • •• • • •• • • • • • • • • • •••••• • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • •
I
I • ••
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fi1KI NG'S H EAD In 2010, scientists identified fi1TH REE GEN ERAT I ONS Kathryn Crills fi1 BODY METAl Rolf Buchholz, a 52-year-old
the long-lost head of King Henri IV of France, of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, is the proud computer expert from Dortmund, Germany,
who was assassinated in 1610 and whose head matriarch of three generations of identical has 453 rings and studs on his body.

[:1 CORPSE D I SPlAY Cancetto Farmica, a

had been stolen during the French Revolution . twins-her own daughters Karen and
Scientists used forensics to identify the head, Sharon (who were born August 7, 1959),
which had passed between collectors, by her granddaughters Melanie and Michelle U.S. carnival worker, died in 1911, but when
features visible in portraits, including a lesion (who were born September 22, 1973) and her his father failed to collect his son's body, the
near his nose, a pierced ear and a healed facial great-granddaughters Maleah and Makelah funeral home at laurinburg, North Carolina,
wound from a previous assassination attempt. (who were born April 16, 2010). put him on display as an attraction until 1972.

What inspired you to

modify your ears in
this fashion?
I had been wearing
prosthetic elf ears
for years, the way
other people would wear
a necklaces or clothes. It was part of my unique
"look" and a statement I was making about
who I am and what I am about. I also walked
around town wearing a crushed velvet cape
and carrying a quarter staff-literally I was a
modern-day elf!

Did it hurt? The procedure itself was painless.

Anesthetic was used and I had a huge grin on
my face the entire time. When the anesthetic
wore off, the pain kicked in and I had to be
very careful how I slept. Even when no pressure
was on my ears, there was a constant pain for
two weeks.

How long did it take to heal? The stitches

came out after a: week or so. However, I had
to use surgical tape for another two weeks to
help convince my body to hold this new, foreign
shape in my ears. Then it took almost a full
year before my ears settled into the shape they
are now.

What kind of reactions do you get to your

new ears? Almost all the reactions I get are
positive. Sometimes people post negative
things on websites, but that never bothers
me. These people don't know me, whereas
people who know me have been fantastically
supportive. As Russ Foxx said: "I'm not
modifying your ears, I am fixing them." This
whole process seemed like part of the journey
of making myself into exactly who I want to
be-who I've always been. When people say
that my ears will make me unemployable,
I can't help but laugh. Since I got the body
modification, I have worked for the B.C.
government, as a nanny, and with adults
and kids with mental and physical disabilities.
I also teach martial arts and history, and have
a successful band-The Figures.

How do you feel about your ears now?

/ love them, plain and simple! / love the subtlety
of them and the fact that Russ did such an
amazing job that most people can't tell they
have been modified-they assume I was just
born with them. This mod is just an accent to
my lifestyle; it's a part of who I am and goes
hand in hand with the amazing life I have
chosen to live.

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 filSEL F-SERV ICE After badly cutting his leg W SUM GI Rl! A 1s-year-old schoolgirl with
in an accident at home, a 32-year-old man a love of math was awakened from a coma
became so frustrated at having to wait an hour when her father began asking her simple sums.
at Sundsvall Hospital in northern Sweden that Vicki Alex of Northamptonshire, England, had
he picked up a needle and thread and sewed been unconscious for three days and had failed
up the cut himself. to respond to other attempts to stimulate her
brain, but after her father's intervention she
soon regained full consciousness.

m N EW lANGUAGE A 13-year-old
Croatian girl woke from a 24-hour coma
speaking fluent German, which she had
Mayuko Kanazawa, a design student from
started studying at school only shortly
Tokyo, Japan, created her own bizarre font
before she fell into the coma. Bizarrely,
by photographing the hair on her
she could no longer speak Croatian !
friend's leg, arranged to look like
letters of the alphabet. Mayuko
� EIGHT L IMBS Seven-year-old Deepak came up with the idea after her
Paswan of Bihar, India, was born with eight class was challenged to make
limbs-having the arms, legs and buttocks W lARGE FAM i lY After giving a font without the aid of a
of a parasitic twin protruding from his chest. birth to two sets of quadruplets computer, to ensure no digital
Although the parasitic twin's arms were small (in 2004 and 2oos), Dale Chalk trickery was involved!
and withered, its legs grew at the same rate as from Strathpine in Queensland,
Deepak, meaning the youngster had to carry Australia, had twins in 2009,
a heavy weight around until he had the extra giving her a total of 11 children
limbs removed in a complex operation in 2010. under the age of seven.

m lONG lOBES Jian Tianjin, a farmer � SI NGLE H A N D ED Despite being born

61/2 in (16 cm)-so long and flexible that

from Taiwan, has earlobes that stretch with just one hand, Kevin Shields from Fort
William, Scotland, is an accomplished rock
they reach his shoulders and can be wound climber and has even managed to master
around his chin. treacherous ice climbs.

� BORN TWI C E Doctors in Texas performed

prenatal surgery at 2S weeks to remove a
grapefruit-sized tumor from Macie McCartney
while she was still inside her mother's womb.
The procedure involved pulling out mother
Keri's uterus and then half of Made's body.
Once free of the tumor, Macie was returned to
the womb, where she recovered and grew for
another ten weeks before being "born" again.

G1 BABY'S TAl l Surgeons in China performed

an operation to remove a s-in-long (13-cm) tail
from the body of a four-month-old baby girl.
Hong Hong, from China's Anhui Province, was
born with the tail, but it quickly doubled in
size. X-rays had shown that it was connected
to a fatty tumor within her spinal column.

• • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • •• •
 eJ H A I RY HANDS Since becoming the
first American to undergo a double hand
transplant, Jeff Kepner from Augusta,
Georgia, has noticed that his new hands are
considerably hairier than the rest of his body
because the donor had more hair than him.

eJ METAl M U N C H E R Doctors in Cajamarca,

Peru, removed 2 lb (900 g) of metal from a
man's stomach, including nails, coins, rusted
copper wire and scrap metal. Requelme
Abanto Alvarado said he had been eating W TODDLER PlUNGE Two-year-old Zhu li SELF-AMPUTAT I ON Trapped by a fallen
metal for months and had once swallowed Xinping miraculously survived after falling concrete girder in the rubble of a building
17 nails that measured 5 in (12.5 em) in one day. from the 21st floor of a tower block in Jianyang that collapsed during a 2009 earthquake in
City, Sichuan Province, China. She suffered only Padang, Indonesia, an 18-year-old construction
a broken leg because she landed on a freshly worker named Ramlan survived by sawing off
dug pile of soil that cushioned her fall. his own leg.

W AUTO DEGREE Mike Needs, a 48-year-old

from Canton, Ohio, has been blind for decades,
yet is finishing his degree
as an auto mechanic.

e1 BU LLET SURPR ISE A 35-year-old Polish man

went to the hospital in Bochum, Germany,
worried about a small lump on the back of his
head, to discover that he had a .22 caliber bullet

eJ lEGLE�S ACROBAT Although he was

lodged there. Only then did he remember
receiving a blow to the head around midnight
at a New Year's Party five years earlier. born without legs, lv li from Dengfeng,
China, makes his living as an acrobat. The

THE WIDTH OF BOTH

amazing street performer's act includes
· handstands, snake charming and fire breathing, George linn of

ARMS STRETCHED OUT IS

n-
drawing huge crowds wherever he goes. lakewood, Colorado,
suffered a heart

THE SAME AS THE LENGTH Of r:1 ON T H E MOVE U.S. President Abraham attack in July 2010

YOUR WHOLE BOD Y.

lincoln's coffin was moved 17 times after his and was saved by
�
funeral and was kept under a pile of lumber a pizza de liveryman
·
to hide it from grave robbers. who applied CPR.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • •• • • • • I!! • • • • - - •--• · - - · -- · - · - - -·- · I
•

-
l:t GUN S H OT A Polish
man who was hit in the back of Shaolin monks can do one-finger
the head by a .22-caliber bullet during New handstands or "iron fingers." To balance
Year's Eve celebrations in the German town of the body on just one finger requires immense
Herne took five years
o1
to realize he had been strength and concentration-yet Hai-tank,
shot. It was only w h en he went to a doctor a 91-year-old monk from the Sil lum Temple
after feeling a lump on his head that an X-ray in China, can perform the feat.
revealed the presence of the bullet.

l:t WALD O TATTOO John Mosley of

W SPAT B U LLET I n June 2010, a 39-year-old
man was shot in the face while walking down
Norwich, England, has a Where's Waldo? a street in Chicago, Illinois. Incredibly, he spat
scene of 150 characters tattooed on his out the bullet and a tooth, suffering only
back. He sat patiently for 24 hours while minor injury.

l:t STOMAC H G R I P China's Wu Zhilong

tattooist Rytch Soddy created the body
artwork, which features Darth Vader from
Star Wars, cavemen, pirates, Vikings, cowboys has such powerful stomach muscles he
and Waldo himself. can use them to pull a 2.2-ton car a distance

l:t SURG I CAL SPONGE Helen O'Hagan of

of 65 ft (20 m). He is also able to hold an
iron pot so firmly in his abdomen that others
Sydney, Australia, lived for more than 15 years cannot pull it off.

riJ ART I F I C IAL TEETH Scientists from ,

with a surgical sponge the size of a grapefruit
sewn inside her following an abdominal
operation in 1992. She suffered cramps, fevers Tokyo University of Science, Japan, have
and bowel problems until an X-ray detected grown fully formed teeth from stem cells.

riJ WORKER IMPALED Wang Tao from

the sponge in 2007. The artificial teeth, which were grown in

lil SAVED BY DENTURES When 81-year-old

mice, looked realistic, could chew food
Xian, China, survived after an accident at a and were sensitive to pain.

ll ANC I ENT B O N ES A woman in

•
·-
Zacarias Pacheco de Moraes was shot in May concrete factory left him impaled on 13 metal
2011 while working in the bar he owns in rods. An explosion sent the steel rods spearing
Alta Floresta, Brazil, his life was saved by his into his thigh and hip. Some of them were Marathon, Florida, discovered human
dentures deflecting a bullet that was headed so long that workmates had to use an angle bones in her garden in October 2010.
for his brain . The bullet hit his dentures before grinder to sever them so that Tao could fit On inspection, experts estimated that
lodging in his throat. into the ambulance. the bones are in fact 2,400 years old.
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grandchildren until the day before
W RUN OVER TW ICE A woman from for fear they might disapprove.
W SORE LEG On J une 21, 2010, Tracy Durham Melbourne, Australia, survived after being run
of Peoria, Illinois, awoke with a sore leg and over by her own car-twice. Pulling into the W I NCRIMI NAT I NG X-RAY A thief who stole
discovered he had been hit with a gunshot on driveway of her home, she forgot to put on a diamond from a woman in Marbella, Spain,
the night before without noticing it. the handbrake, whereupon the runaway car and swallowed it, was caught when police
knocked her to the ground, running over her gave him an X-ray. The X-ray showed the gem
W ALL'S WELL When four-year-old Deng Rui
.. abdomen and legs. As she lay injured, the car in his stomach, and he was charged with theft.
from Tengchong, China, tripped and fell to the continued rolling down the slope, hit a fence

Mabbutt of Oxfords hire, Engla�d, suffered from

bottom of a 30-ft (9-m) dry well, he found he and rebounded back toward her, running her W N O I SY EYEBALLS For si>s years, Stephen
had company-a cat that had fallen down the over again.
well earlier. Deng was rescued two days later a rare medical condition that meant he could
with nothing worse than a few scratches to his W BLOOD DONOR John Sheppard of Fort hear his eyeballs move in their sockets. He
face. The cat was also hauled to safety but ran Myers, Florida, has given over 300 pints of first experienced the symptoms in 2005 when
off as soon as it reached the surface. blood in 6o years. His 39 gal (150 l) of blood he felt a dull ache in the side of his head. He
has possibly saved almost 1,ooo lives. was diagnosed with superior canal dehiscence
W KN I FE B LADE After being stabbed in a syndrome, an ear condition in which he could
2006 robbery, Li Fu of Yuanjiang County, W SWORD EXTRAC T I O N Surgeons in hear sounds inside his body. Until he had an
China, lived for the next four years with a Hunan Province, China, successfully removed operation to cure it in 2011, as well as hearing
4-in (10-cm) blade buried in his face-and he a 20-in-long (51-cm) metal sword from the his eyeballs move, he could hear his heart
didn't even know it! Doctors found the knife head of a 15-year-old boy. The sword beating, and the noise while he chewed food
blade, which had penetrated his tongue root, accidentally stabbed Zhang Bin between his was deafening.
muscles and brain, only when they carried eyes, penetrating at least 2 in (5 em) into his
out an X-ray to investigate Li's complaint of forehead.
headaches and a nasty taste in his mouth.
 C1 SHORTEST MAN In 2011, an 18-year-old
from the Philippines, Junrey Balawing, was
declared the world's shortest man. The son
of a blacksmith from Sindangan on Mindanao
Island, he stands just 23.6 in (6o em) taU-s in
(12.s em) shorter than the average one-year-old

TOP MOP
Aevin Dugas holds a hair-raising
boy-after he stopped growing when he was
two years old.

record on top of her head-the W BRAI N SU RGERY Helen Hollis, 47, from
world's largest "afro" hairstyle,
Nottinghamshire, England, graduated from
which has grown to 4 ft 4 in
the University of Derby in 2011 with a degree

to 7 in (18 em). The 36-year-old

(1.3 m) in circumference and rises
in psychology and counseling studies-five
years after part of her brain was removed.
social worker from New Orleans
has been cultivating her curls Part of her right temporal lobe was taken
for 12 years, but doesn't always out in a high-risk operation to overcome her
wear her hair at its biggest, repeated epileptic attacks, which used to total
as it restricts her vision when around 40 a month .
driving and can get too hot in
the louisiana summer. [;] TWI N C U RSE Gladys Bulinya of Nzoia, near
Kenya's Lake Victoria, has given birth to six
[;] M I G H TY YAWN College student Holly sets of twins over a period of 17 years. Sadly,
Thomson of Northampton, England, found a after the sixth set arrived in 2010, her husband
W H I D D EN GEM When Calvin Wright of lesson in government and politics so tiresome decided she was cursed and left her, and the

in her region think twins bring ba<;i luck.

Athens, Georgia, went into the hospital with that she yawned hard enough to dislocate her rest of her family also shun her as many people

ECALRIFDOMRNIA.
an acute case of bronchitis, an emergency jaw. She remained with her jaw locked open in

S T
.•

A N W A
room nurse discovered a pearl inside his ear. a yawning position for five hours until a doctor
It had been in his ear canal for 41 years, after at the local hospital was able to open it even

O : L L
f

YEA R. T Jrp�� � � : � �� O F I I N
his mother's necklace had broken and his baby further and unlock it. •

. ONCE AIC BASES IS S

sister had playfully stuffed two of the pearls

UP
into his ear. Although doctors had managed to

ANTARCT
remove one immediately afterward, amazingly
the other pearl had gone undetected for more
than four decades.
W 34 D I GITS Akshat Saxena of Uttar Pradesh,
W TATTOOED GRAN D PA Great-grandfather India, was born with 14 fingers (seven on each
Tommy Wells from Greater Manchester, W NO H A N DS Ten-year-old Nick Maxim of hand but no thumbs) and 20 toes (ten on each
England, has more than 1,ooo tattoos etched Readfield, Maine, won a national award for foot), giving him 34 digits-more than anyone
across every part of his body. He has spent penmanship-despite being born without else in the world. He later had the excess digits
more than so years having tattoos inked not hands. He writes fluently by holding the pencil surgically removed and doctors made him
only on his arms, hands, legs, torso, back and between his arms, which end just above where thumbs from the fingers they amputated.
head, but also on the soles of his feet, his lips, his elbows should be.
his butt and even his genitals.

H AI R- R AISI N G
I N S ECT S
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have lo st t h

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• •• • • • • • . � •.• • • •• • •
. . . ... . . .. . . � - ···
 • • • • • • • •
•• • • • • • • I
11._!!!! �_1 _I I _ .. . � • • • • ••
I
 (;} SU C KED I NTO P I PE Writer Allan Baillie
THE STRANG£ m ASH ES TATTOO Brother and sister
of Sydney, Australia, survived with just cuts CAR££R Or Andrew and Helen Bird of Stoke-on-Trent,
and bruises after being sucked feet-first into
a drainage pipe and spat out onto a nearby
£LM£R McCURDY'S England, created a lasting tribute to their dead
grandfather by having his ashes tattooed into
beach seconds later. He was swimming in a CORPSE their skin. Andrew had an extract from one of
pool while a workman was cleaning it, and grandpa Reginald Alefs' poems etched on to
Inept at robbing trains, Oklahoma outlaw
when the workman pressed the button to his arm while Helen had a rose inked onto her
Elmer McCurdy made more in death than
open the water valve, Baillie was sucked back. The tattoo artist mixed some of Mr. Alefs'
he ever did while he was alive. He was
into the pipe. The circumference of the pipe ashes with ink to create the artworks.
killed in a 1911 gunfight, his last words
was smaller than his body, but luckily the
being the familiar "You'll never take me
tremendous pressure meant that he popped (;} I NTERNAL D ECAP I TAT I O N The impact
alive," but it was then that his corpse
straight out at the other end like a wine cork. of a car accident jolted two-year-old Micah
took on a life of its own. When nobody
Andrews' head sideways with such force that
came forward to claim it, the undertaker
(:J STEADY H A N D Performing in Hamburg his skull separated from his spine-a condition

exhibited as The Bandit Who Wouldn't Give

had it embalmed with a preservative and
in 2010, German stuntman Joe Alexander called atlanta-occipital dislocation, or internal
used his elbow to break a record 24 concrete decapitation. Surgeons in Phoenix, Arizona,
Up with customers inserting a nickel in
blocks, assembled in three stacks of eight, kept Micah's head still by placing sandbags on
McCurdy's mouth. The attraction proved so
demonstrating such skill that the egg he was either side before implanting a titanium loop to
profitable that numerous carnival operators
holding in his smashing hand did not break. reattach the base of the skull to the spine. The
put in bids for the dead outlaw, but the rod is held in place with a piece of the boy's
(;} H UMAN BLOC K H EADS At the undertaker resisted all offers until being rib. Two months later, Micah was released from
ninth annual Sideshow Gathering at duped by a man claiming to be McCurdy's hospital, able to walk and talk again.

(:J GIANT TUMOR A massive tumor,

Wilkes-Barre, Pen nsylvania, in November brother. Led to believe that McCurdy was
2010, 36 people simultaneously hammered to be given a proper burial, the undertaker
various objects into their noses to create a handed him over, only to see him exhibited accounting for one-third of his body weight,
mass human blockhead. in a traveling carnival two weeks later. was removed from the back of a Chinese
teenager in 2011. The 41-lb (19-kg) growth had
For the next 6o years, McCurdy's body
(:J J U N IOR 'TEAC H ER Shruti Pandey was just been expanding on the body of 15-year-old Qiu
was sold to various wax museums and
four years old when she began teaching yoga Sheng, from Yunnan Province, since birth . It
carnivals, although one haunted house
to adults at a retreat in Uttar Pradesh, India. started as two bean-sized tumors on his waist,
owner in South Dakota turned it down
Her elder brother, Harsh Kumar, had learned before growing first to the size of a peach, then
because he did not think it was sufficiently
all 84 yoga positions by the age of five. a coconut and finally a sandbag on his back

an episode of the TV series The Six Million

lifelike. Then in 1976, during the filming of
that grew into his chest cavity and pushed

Dollar Man at the Californian amusement

(;} DEXTROUS TOES After losing both of aside his right shoulder-blade.
his hands at age three in an accident with
park known as "The Pike," a crew member
electricity lines in his native China, Luo Yanbo (:J RUSTY B U llET In 2011, doctors finally
moved what he thought was a mannequin
has learned to eat, write and brush his teeth discovered why a Chinese farmer had been
hanging from a gallows and got the shock
with his feet. His grandmother taught him affected by epilepsy for more than two
of his life when the arm fell off to reveal
how to use chopsticks with his feet and he has decades-a %-in-long (2-cm) rusty bullet had
mummified human remains. It was Elmer
become so adept that he can even use his toes been lodged in his brain since 1988. Wang
to make phone calls.
McCurdy. The following year, Elmer was Tianqing of Zhangjiakou City remembered
finally buried in Oklahoma, the state being knocked unconscious by a blow to the
(:J FOREIGN ACCENT When Karen Butler medical examiner ordering that his casket head, but had no idea he had been shot.

m PLAY I N G TWISTER Chen Daorong

of Toledo, Oregon, went for dental surgery to be buried in concrete so that his corpse
remove several teeth, she came round from would never be disturbed again .
the anesthetic with a British accent-even from Zhengzhou, Fujian Province, China,
though she has never traveled to Europe (:J SUMO SPl iTS Although Matt Alaeddine at age 8o years is a contortionist. He started
or lived outside the U.S.A. She suffers from from Edmonton, Canada, weighs more than contorting his body in 1999 to cure back pains
foreign accent syndrome, a rare neurological 400 lb (180 kg), he is a contortionist. Despite and is now so supple that he can twist his legs
disorder caused by an injury to the part of his considerable bulk, he can press the soles around his neck, do the splits and sleep resting
the brain that controls speech. There have of his feet to the cheeks of his face by doing his head on one foot, as a pillow.
been only about 100 known cases since the the "sumo splits."
condition was first reported in the 1940s. (:J NASTY SHOCK Joseph Ferrato of
(;} B I KER I MPALED During a motorcycle Akron, Ohio, sustained only minor injuries
(;} RAISED ARM Sadhu Amar Bharati accident in January 2011, a 20-year-old man in after 23,000 volts of electricity burst through
Urdhavaahu, an Indian holy man, has kept his Delhi, India, was impaled through his chest by the windshield of his car. The damage was
right arm raised above his head continuously inch-thick (2.s-cm) iron rods. Doctors saved his caused by a falling power line that had been

• • • • • •
for decades as a sign of his devotion. cut down by copper thieves.

•
life in a four-hour operation .

• • • • • • • •
• • •
 • • • • • • •• •
• • • • • • • • • • • .
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(:1 RECYCLED BOAT Taiwan's Alex Chou

W P I PE DREAM Anthony Smith, an 8s-year-old designed an eco boat made primarily from
W H I GH SPEED A Chinese passenger train grandfather from London, England, crossed the 700 plastic bottles. The sailboat Forever, built
traveling between Beijing and Shanghai Atlantic Ocean in 2011 on a 40-ft-long (12-m) entirely from recycled materiat� and powered
can reach the incredible speed of 302 mph raft that was made from lengths of gas and by wind and solar energy, mad� its mai den
(486 km/h). The new high-speed train has water pipes. He and his three-man crew-all voyage in June 2011.
halved travel times between the two cities of whom were aged over ss-set sail from
from ten hours to five. the Canary Islands for the 66-day, 2,8oo-mi W RESCUE MISS I O N After spending nine
(4,506-km) voyage to the Caribbean. years building a two-seater airplane in
[;] CROWD ED TRA I NS India's rail system the basement of his home in Lower Allen
serves about six billion passengers every Township, Pennsylvania, Dan Reeves realized
year-that's nearly equal to the entire it was too big to get up the steps. So he dug
p opulation of the Earth. a trench down to the foundation, knocked out
a wall and, with the help of neighbors, used a
heavy chain to pull the plane up into daylight.

• • • • • •
• • • •• •
 [;JEXPLOD I NG MAN H OLE An exploding
manhole caused by flash floods threw an
unoccupied parked car several feet into the
[;JSH OE CAR A Chinese shoe manufacturer air in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in July 2011.
has converted a giant shoe into an electric car. The torrent of water turned the manhole into
The 10-ft-long (3-m), 3-ft-high (go-em) shoe car a geyser which tossed the rear half of the
has leather bodywork and took six months to A mon in Joipur, Indio, wos seen vehicle repeatedly into the air.
create from the hide of five bulls. It can carry transporting the chassis of on old cor
two people 250 mi (400 km) at a top speed
of 20 mph (32 km/h) on a single charge of the
ottoched to the fro me of his tricycle.
battery, which is located beneath the driver's He pushed his trike with his heod through
seat in the heel. the open hood of the cor so thot he
[;J DRY R U N Battling against extreme heat
could see where
and sandstorms, Reza Pakravan from London, he wos going.
England, cycled 1,084 mi (1,734 km) across the
Sahara Desert in 13 days 5 hours, averaging
more than 8o mi (130 km) a day. The heat was

of water every qay to keep hydrated.

so fierce that he had to drink around 15 pt (7 l)

W ELECTR I C TRI KE Four engineers from

Hamburg, Germany, have devised a tricycle
powered solely by two 18-volt electric
screwdrivers. The 44-lb (2o-kg) EX trike, which
can reach speeds of 18.6 mph (30 km/h),
is driven in a headlong position, the driver
operating the brake and gas levers with his
hands and the rear wheel with his legs.

W $ 1 -M I L L I O N CRASH A woman driver in

Monte Carlo caused a $1-million car accident
in July 2011 by crashing into some of the most
expensive cars in the world as she tried to
negotiate her way around the famous Place du
Casino. Her $375,000 Bentley Azure scraped
the side of a $11o,ooo Mercedes before hitting
a $2oo,ooo Ferrari, a $225,000 Aston Martin
Rapide and a $12o,ooo Porsche 911.

r:l BUS PRO POSAL Romantic British bus driver

Ph ill Openshaw used the digital display on the
front of his vehicle to propose to his girlfriend
Sam Woodward. He changed the electronic
board on his Wilts and Dorset bus to read:
"Sam, Will you marry me?" She was waiting
at a bus stop in the town of Poole when she
saw the sign-and said yes!

• • • • • • • •
. . . - - - • - - __ , __ ,. _
 W PAPER PlAN E In October 2010, near
Madrid, Spain, a paper airplane fitted with
f "Popemobile," the Roman a tiny camera was launched into space to
Catholic Pope's touring car, is photograph its descent to Earth. For Operation
armored with 3-in (8-cm) blast­ PARIS (Paper Aircraft Released Into Space),
resistant glass panels and has it was attached to a weather balloon. When
its own internal air supply for the balloon burst 17 mi (27 km) up, the plane
protection against a chemical began to fall, taking pictures on its way.
or biological attack.
W FERRAR I FAN Jon Ryder of Sheffield,
r:1Q U I C K T H I N K I NG Duane England, loves h is yellow 1996 Ferrari 355
Innes of Kent, Washington Spider so much he parks it in his living room.
State, deliberately crashed He drives it through a garage door at the end
into a truck driven by of the room so he can admire it from his sofa.
So-year-old Bill Pace. The
crash stopped Pace's truck, saving his [;) WRONG TURN A British man and h is wife
life after he had passed out behind the wheel. drove their Renault into the side of a church
Arturas Zuokas, mayor of lithuania's near lmmenstadt, Germany, after obeying
capital city, Vilnius, surprised bystanders [;) WOODEN SCOOTER Carlos Alberto, faulty instructions from their GPS. The couple
a carpenter from Portugal, built a functioning ended up in the hospital with minor injuries,
when he drove over an illegally parked replica of a Vespa motor scooter almost their car was wrecked and $3o,ooo of damage
vehicle in a Russian armored personnel entirely from wood. was done to the church-all because the GPS
carrier, crushing the vehicle beyond repair. directed them to turn right where there was
[;) T I G H T SQU EEZE In December 2010, 26 . actually no road.
The elaborate stunt was a headline­ members of the New York City-based Pilobolus
grabbing response to luxury cars being Dance Company squeezed their bodies into a
parked illegally in the capital. standard MINI car.

[;) SAFETY BOWL The Longxiang Public Bus

[;) M I N I MINI Retired mechanic Lester Company in Changsha, China, uses a hanging
Atherfold from Napier, New Zealand, trimmed bowl of water in its buses as a visual reminder
over 2 ft (6o em) off his 1964 Mini car so that it for drivers to drive calmly and carefully.
could fit into the trunk of his motor home. He
reduced the 1o-ft-long (3-m) Mini to 7 ft 10 in W STRANGE HYBR I D Motorbike-crazy
(2-4 m) by slicing a chunk from the middle, Markus Sell, from Jonschwil, Switzerland,
narrowing the chassis, and fitting a new sub­ welded the rear half of a Renault Clio car onto
frame, transmission, clutch and dashboard. the front half of a motorbike. But, as he roared
along at 70 mph (115 km/h), police stopped
him and claimed the vehicle was unsafe.
 ••• ��P�o/.s -
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W H EAVY LOAD A truck carrying steel W KEEP TU R N I NG California's Ridge Route W FLOAT I N G VAN An amphibious ...-t
pipes that increased its total weight to mountain highway-built in 1915 and linking ice-cream van toured Britain's seaside resorts
98 tons was so heavy that it fell through a Los Angeles to Bakersfield-has 697 turns in in 2011. Driven by Dave Mountfield from Q.l
......
bridge and landed in a river. The truck was just 36 mi (58 km) of road. Brighton, Sussex, HMS Flake 99 had a top :::
being driven across the Dongrong Bridge in speed of five knots and chimed Rod Stewart's
Cr� China, when the road suddenly "Sailing" as it took to the water.
-:::1
collapsed beneath it, leaving a truck-sized

1111!
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hole measuring 46 x 16 ft (14 x 5 m).
 (b@�.- ��'lm
Among passengers' insurance claims submitted to the
White Star line following the sinking were:
Real ising they would n ot esca pe,
U.S. mining mag nate Beniamin Personal property $177,352.75, Charlotte Drake Cardeza
Guggenhei m and h is val et changed
Oil painting $1oo,ooo, Hakan Bjornstrom-Steffanson
i nto ful l evening d ress, rea ppeari n g
o n deck t o declare: "We've d ressed Renault 35 hp automobile $5,000, Billy Carter ,
up in o u r best a nd are pre pared to
Signed picture of Garibaldi $3,000, Emilio Portaluppi
go d ow n like g entlemen."
Champion French bulldog $750, Robert W. Daniel

Four roosters and hens $207.87, Ella Holmes

Set of bagpipes $5o, Eugene Daly

�o��;�@m:
75,000 lb (34,000 kg) of fresh meat

25,000 lb (u1400 kg} of poultry & game

u,ooo lb (5,000 kg) of fresh fish

40,ooo eggs

36,000 oranges

16,000 lemons

20,000 bottles of beer

1,�00 bottles of wine

40 tons of potatoes

� 1,500 gal (5,700 l) of fresh milk

u,ooo dinner plates

8,000 cut-glass tumblers

45,000 table napkins

15,000 pillow slips

'
25,000 fine towels

18,000 bedsheets
It cost $7.5 million to build-the equivalent of $400 million today Titanic's whistles could be heard from a distance of u mi
(18 km) away
Each of the engines was the size of a three-story house
The ship was fitted with 29 boilers and 159 furnaces, and carried
The four funnels were 62 ft (19 m) high and 22 ft (6.7 m) in
more than 8,ooo tons of coal
diameter, wide enough to drive two trains through
16,8oo gal (63,645 l) of drinking water were consumed on board
The hull w'as constructed with three million rivets
every day
The center anchor weighed 15.5 tons and needed 20 horses to pull
If the 882-ft-long (269-m) ship had been stood on its end, it would
it through Belfast to the shipyard
have been taller than any building in the world at that time
The ship contained more than 200 mi (320 km) of electrical wiring
Sixty chefs and chefs' assistants worked in five kitchens providing
The ship was lit by 1o,ooo lightbulbs food for the passengers
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(;1 K N I F E EXERC I SE Xie Guanghai, a 57-year­
old physics professor in Luoyang, China, does �
.....
4,000 push-ups a day-on upturned chopping
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....
knives. By developing thick calluses on his
palms, he feels no pain from the blades of
the knives, which are held in place on a
wooden board.

m BUNNY H OPS Polish stunt cyclist Krystian

(;J SEN I O R
SKYD IVER In March
Herba bunny-hopped his way up the 48 flights 2011, Fred Mack of
- of the 656-ft-high (2oo-m) Millennium Tower in Newtown Square,
Vienna, Austria, in 18 minutes 9 seconds. Pennsylvania,

(;1 B U NGEE J UMPS Scott Huntly from

celebrated his
1ooth birthday if* Y O UR 4i
Edinburgh, Scotland, made 107 bungee jumps by performing a
in just nine hours from a bridge 702 ft (214 m) tandem skydive
UP L O A D S
www . r i p l eys . com/sub m i t
above the Bloukrans River in the Western Cape at an altitude of
region of South Africa. 13,000 ft (3,960 m) B e nj i Wi l l i a m s of L o s A n g e l e s , C a l iforn i a ,
in the skies over New Jersey. He made his first h a s been m a k i n g r u b b e r- b a n d b a l l s

HNICA L
s i nce he wa s s i x . He we n t t o O r l a n d o ,

THE CZECH TEC SIGNED

skydiving jump aged 95 and vowed to repeat
•
F l o r i d a , o n vaca t i o n to v i s i t R i p l ey ' s
the feat if he lived to be 100.
wa re h o u s e t o see t he worl d ' s b i g g e s t
A S DE m YO-YO H ERO James Buffington, founder
UNIVERSITY H N JUGGL E a n d we i g h i n g 9 , 4 3 2 l b (4 , 2 8 2 kg) .
r u b b e r - b a n d ba l l , m a d e by J oel Wa u l

CA
A RDBD T THAT AT ONCE. (4 5 kg)-a nd g rowi ng fa s t .
of the Chicago Yo-Yo Club, has built a working B e nj i ' s b a l l i s a l ready we l l over 1 0 0 l b
yo-yo with a string length of 39 ft 9 in (12.1 m).
LS
FIVE PDDL BAL
He demonstrated it from the roof of a store in
the city, where it hung down over three stories.
r:lU N D ERWATER CARD GAME A group
(;1 C ROSS I N G AMER I CA In 2010, six British (;1 POLE POS I T I O N Israeli stuntman Hezi of 16 German scuba divers played a card
and U.S. servicep1�n ran 3,530 mi (5,648 km) Dean stood on a small platform on top of a game underwater for 36 hours in March 2011.
from New York tb Santa Monica, California, nine-story-high pole in Tel Aviv for more than The divers sat on the bottom of a pool in
on a Gumpathon, named after the movie 35 hours in May 2011. A crane hoisted him to Geiselhoering, playing a traditional Bavarian
Forrest Gump in which the hero runs across the top of the pole and he descended at the card game called "Sheep's Head."
the U.S.A. Their eight-week journey took them end of the endurance test by jumping into a
through three deserts, four time zones, ten pile of cardboard boxes. r;J STAR SWIMMER Four-year-old Tae Smith

m CAREFUL CLIMB In December 2010, the

mountain ranges, 16 states and 789 towns. from Poole, England, swam 101 lengths of a
Among the team, which ran in relays, was pool (1% mi/2,000 m) just five months after
British Royal Marine Mark Ormrod, a triple Czech Republic's Anatol Stykan climbed the learning to swim . She was meant to swim
amputee who lost both legs and one arm when 235 steps leading up to the famous Sacre Coeur 30 lengths, but kept going until she had
he stepped on a land mine in Afghanistan on church in Paris, France, while balancing his swum more than triple the distance.
Christmas Eve 2007. partner Monika on his head.
 WHAT A MOUTH FU L!
O n J u l y 4, 201 1 , D i nesh Shivnath
U padhyaya, a teacher from Mu m bai,
I nd ia, set a new world record by fitti ng
800 d ri n king straws i nto his m outh at
the sam e time a n d keeping them there
for 30 seconds.

RIPLEY'S WEIRD RECORD · RIPLEY'S WEIRD RECORD RIPLEY'S WEIRD RECORD

•

l:J BOTTLE-CAP C H A I N Students and l:J LARGEST K I LT Ordering

MOUTHWATERI NG RECORDS
800 D R I N KI NG STRAWS
teachers at Seaview Elementary School in 170 sq yd (142 sq m) of

1 59 C I GARETTES
Linwood, New Jersey, created a chain material, Steve Campbell, • Dinesh Upadhyaya (India)

1 09 L I VE B EES
from 10,714 bottle caps. a Scotsman living in the • Jim Mouth. (U.S.A.)
U.S.A., made the world's

92 PE N C I LS
• Dr. Norman Gary (U.S.A.)
m CANADIAN C ROSSING In 2011, Kevin largest kilt and used it to

57 GRAPES
• Dinesh Upadhyaya (India)
Robins of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, dress the 8o-ft-tall (24-m)

41 C I GARS
cycled across Canada from Vancouver, British Golden Driller statue in Tulsa, • Shobhit Keshvdass (India)

22 L I VE SCORPI ONS
Columbia, to St. John's, Newfoundland, in just Oklahoma, for the 2011 • Jim Mouth (U.S.A.)
over 22 days, beating the previous record by a Oklahoma Scottish Festival.

1 1 L I VE RATTLESNAKES
• Maged Almalki (Saudi Arabia)
day and a half. He covered a total of 4,500 mi The supersized kilt was 25 ft

1 1 L I VE COCKR OAC H ES
• Jackie Bibby (U.S.A.)
(7,200 km), docking up an average pace of (7.6 m) long and had a waist

5 TEN N I S BALLS
200 mi (323 km) a day. measuring 48 ft (14.6 m), • Travis Fessler (U.S.A.)
nearly 14 times bigger than • Augie (U.S. dog)
a U.S. extra-large size.
m WON DER W H EEL On June 18, 2011, the W U N DERWATER WAL K On
Lilly fireworks factory in Mqabba, Malta, lit the August 5, 2011, pool. supervisor Joe
world's biggest pinwheel (Catherine Wheel) Wilkie of Tonawanda, New York,
firework. With a diameter of 105 ft (32 m), it walked a record 241 ft 6 in (73.6 m)
was 45 times the size of the average car wheel. underwater on a single breath in
1 minute 15 seconds while carrying
W ARMY MED I C At 76 years old, U.S. Army a 25-lb (11.3-kg) weight to hold
medic Dr. John Burson, an ear, nose and throat him down.

W CARTON REGATTA Thirty-six

specialist from Villa Rica, Georgia, was posted
to Afghanistan to take his fourth tour of duty in
war zones since 2005. teams used 45,000 empty milk cartons

m U N D ERWATER ESCAPE U.S. entertainer

to make rowboats to take part in the 2011
milk carton boat regatta over a 165-ft-long
Thomas Blacke escaped from a pair of (5o-m) course on Latvia's Lielupe River.
handcuffs underwater in a world record time
of 8.34 seconds on October 27, 2010, in W POGO H OPS Chef Ben Hoyle from
Yarmouth, Massachusetts. Sudbury, England, completed 75 successive
pogo hops on the back wheel of his trail bike in
W W I LD WAL K In windy conditions in August September 2011.

m BEER LABELS Since 1955, Charles Johnson

2011, Austrian daredevil Michael Kemeter
completed a death-defying walk for 148 ft
(45 m) along a %-in-wide (2-cm) slackline at of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, has collected more
an altitude of 2,6oo ft (793 m) on Austria's than 108,ooo beer-bottle labels from all over
highest mountain, the Grossglockner. He had a the world.
safety rope but wore no shoes and despite the
cold went topless to reduce wind resistance. A W 500-M I LE CRAWL In 2010, two Buddhist
week earlier, he crossed a 525-ft-long (16o-m) monks crawled 500 mi (Boo km) on their knees
slackline-the longest in the world-over the to visit a statue in China's Putuo Mountains­
Gruenen See in Styria, Austria. In slacklining, a journey that took them two months.
the thin nylon li�e_ is anc h ored between two
points, but unlike a tightrope it is not taut and W SEVEN SUMMITS At just 16 years old,
is allowed to sway around in the air. George Atkinson from London, England,

m SOLO P I LOT On June 4, 2011, nine-year­

reached the summit of the world's highest
mountain, 29,029-ft (8,848-m) Mount Everest,
old Bobby Bradley of Albuquerque, New and in doing so completed his challenge
Mexico, became the youngest solo hot-air of conquering mountaineering's famous
balloon pilot when he flew a balloon for Seven Summits. Despite his young age, he
26 minutes over his home state before making had previously climbed Tanzania's Mount
a perfect landing. Bobby already had 30 hours' Kilimanjaro, Russia's Mount Elbrus, Indonesia's
flying experience with his parents-both keen Carstensz Pyramid, Argentina's Mount
balloonists-and started taking control of the Aconcagua, the U.S.A.'s Mount McKinley
burner when he was just four. and Antarctica's Mount Vinson.
 l:l ril
SKYS PER WORLD WAL K Jean Beliveau of Montreal,
Canada, walked around the world for 11 years.
ICE ORDEAl Two Chinese men stood
encased in ice for two hours in Zhangjiajie,

M He set off on his 45th birthday and traveled

46,940 mi (75,543 km) through 64 countries,
Hunan Province, in 2011. Wearing only their
swimming trunks. Chen Kecai, 52, and Jin
I n a six-hour climb, 'Alai n Robert, or wearing out 53 pairs of shoes on the longest­ Songhao, 54, lasted 118 and 120 minutes
"Spiderman," the F rench freestyle ever uninterrupted world walk. He ate insects respectively standing in transparent boxes with
skyscra per climber, scaled the in Africa, dog in South Korea and snake in ice right up to their necks. Jin was even able to
2,7 1 7-ft-high (828-m) Buri Khalifa China, and carried his sleeping bag, clothes write Chinese calligraphy during the challenge.
building in D u bai, U nited Arab and a first-aid kit in a three-wheel stroller.
Emirates, in March 201 1 . He has W SEN I OR WOR KER Hedda Bolgar Bekker,
climbed over 70 of the world's l:l H AT MOSA I C The New Era Cap Company who runs her own psychotherapy clinic in
ta l lest buildings, including New
of Buffalo, New York State, created a hat Los Angeles, California, still works at age 102,
York's Empire State Building and
mosaic made up of 1,875 official Major league giving lectures and seeing patients for up to
Chicago's Wil lis Tower.
Baseball caps. 20 hours a week.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • •• • • • • • • • •
W H A I RCUT TOUR Hair salon owner Patrick
Lomantin i from Wichita, Kansas, did at least
so free haircuts a day, in all so U.S. states
in so days in 2011-a total of more than
2,soo haircuts. Visiting a different state each
day, he traveled between states overnight
and cut hair all day.

W SWALLOWED SAW On November 14,

2010, U.S. sword swallower Dan Meyer
swallowed a 100-year-old handsaw, which
belonged to the Bruce Museum in Greenwich,
Connecticut, during a presentation on the
h istory of sword swallowing.
 Btt S U\T
In May 2011, Zhang Wei from
Zizhou County, China, wore a suit
of bees weighing a staggering
184 lb (83.5 kg)-that's
approximately the weight of an
adult American man. Wearing
a pair of goggles, but leaving
his face and hands unprotected
and holding a tube in his
mouth for breathing, he sat
in a foliage-covered frame
as thousands of bees were
released next to him.

£:1 ROC KET RAC ER Students at the Joseph

leckie Community Technology College in
Walsall, England, designed and developed a
rocket-powered scale model car that reached
a speed of 88.92 mph (143.1 km/h)-that's an
equivalent speed of 259 mph (417 km/h) in
a regular-sized car. The 21-in (53-cm) car was
fitted with D-Class Estes rocket motors and
fired 328 ft (100 m) along a nigh tensile wire .
.•

m D ELAYED GRADUAT I O N leo Plass of

r:JLOTTA BOTTLES Over a 25-year period, W SOCK L I N E As part of National Red Sock
Steve Wheeler has collected more than 17,500 Day-in memory of yachtsman Sir Peter Blake
Redmond, Oregon, dropped out of college milk bottles in different shapes and sizes from who used to wear red socks for good luck­
in 1932 to take up a job in logging when around the world, some dating back to the New Zealanders donated more than 30,000
he was less than one semester away from 19th century. He has built a giant shed to house socks, which, when stretched out on a line,
graduating-but in 2011 he finally received his the collection, which weighs 15 tons, behind extended for over 1.8 mi (3 km).

m W I R E BAll Starting in 2001, landscaper

diploma from Eastern Oregon University his home in Malvern, England. I ronically,
at the age of 99· Steve doesn't even like milk!
Rick Fortin of New Boston, New Hampshire,
has created a copper wire ball that now
measures over 3 ft (0.9 m) in diameter and
weighs more than 922 lb (418 kg).

• • • • • • •
• • • • • •
•• • •
--
• •
- - --
•--
• -• •
 More than 3,500 people
dressed in red-and-white
m LARGE LEAF On his way home from striped costumes and
a park, nine-year-old Joseph Donato from block-rimmed spectacles
Pickering, Canada, picked up a maple
assembled in o square
leaf that, without the stem, measured
13 1/2 x nV2 in (34 x 29 cm)-that's bigger in Dublin, Ireland, in
than most serving platters. June 201 1 for o moss

m B I RD WATCH British birdwatcher Chris

gathering of the Waldo
Gooddie took just 12 months to find and character from the
photograph all 32 species of one of the popular Where's
world's most elusive birds, the pitta.
Waldo? children's
He gave up a well-paid job as a sales
director in London to travel 13o,soo mi books. Some dogs
.
"

(210,000 km) around the world by even turned up

plane, truck, motorbike, taxi, canoe and
dressed os Waldo.
motorboat to find the rare and secretive
birds, which live in the rain forests of
Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Au.stralia.

£:1 DAilY ASCENT Matt Loughrey

climbed Creagh Patrick, a 2,507-ft-high
(764-m) mountain in County Mayo,
Ireland, every day for a year between
June 2010 and June 2011.

• • • • • • •
•• • • • • •
• • • • • •• • • •• • • • •
 W FAM I LY RUN Competing in the London Marathon � TO I LET MUSEUM In Wiesbaden,
on April 17, 2011, 52-year-old Kelvin Amos and his son Germany, toilet fan Michael Berger has
Shane, 31, from Stoke-on-Trent, England, finished in a opened a museum devoted exclusively to
combined time of 6 hours 3 minutes 7 seconds-the the lavatory. The unusual attraction contains
fastest-ever father-and-son team to run a marathon. his personal collection of toilet brushes,
toilet roll holders and toilet seats. Among the
� SNAKE C H AL LENGE In 2010, David Jones, a extraordinary artifacts are a "Mona Lisa" toilet
44-year-old carpenter from Crawley, England, spent roll holder, a Virgin Mary toilet brush holder
four months locked in a room with 40 poisonous and a urinal with Adolf Hitler's face on the
snakes, including cobras, black mambas and puff inside, which was designed after World War II
adders, in Johannesburg, South Africa. to show disapproval of the Nazi regime.

W MOV I E STATUES Dave Bailey of Middlesex,

England, has collected Star Wars memorabilia
for over 30 years. His f6o,ooo hoard includes �
On
�
Augu$t -g, lOU, u former U.K.
servicemen c li m bed Englamfs highest
full-size statues of all the main characters,

peak with lOO.tb (45� twnble dryf:rs

including a 7-ft-tall (2.1-m) Darth Vader.

or washing machines M their backs.

It took the ex-marines and paratroopers
eight hours to cUmb up and down the
W W I N G WAL K On November 15, 2010,

3,209-ft-high {978-m) Scafell Pike.

pensioner Tom Lackey from Birmingham,
England, broke his own record as
the world's oldest wing walker-
at the age of 90. He was strapped to

T O N GUE
the 32-ft-long (9.7-m) wing of a plane

T E d hi•�
and flown soo ft (152 m) above the

TWIS
Ch.mtoh/ stoUbJo\i non\onceg a tower
ground in Gloucestershire.

mfouthree P\ostic bott\es,

W DELAYED D I PLOMA Eighty­

o wine g\osses, f,ve g\oss six-year-old James Livingston from

12
ond 1 6d esocthecerebnto\\ires,
Savannah, Georgia, graduated

\p odtetshen
atonwer sp t nmau sm. g on\ho
from Screven County High, and

y hdis was awarded his high-school

to
tong uore.t Honisdtonspignuoe toto\
· diploma, on May 28, 2010. His

su p.P ht of \b (1 5 kg) .
parents had allowed him to

wetg
leave high school in 1942 to help
33
fight World War II on condition
that he earned his diploma
when he got back.

W JAI L BREAK On August 22, 2011,

exactly 25 years after he first performed
the stunt of escaping from Waushara
County Jail, Wisconsin, Anthony W C HANNEL SWI M At the age of 70 years
Martin, the "King of Escapists," 4 months, Roger Allsopp, a retired surgeon
repeated the feat-and in almost half from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, became
the time. Despite being placed in a the oldest person to swim the English Channel -
straitjacket, strapped to a ladder and when he completed the 24-mi (39-km) crossing
locked behind four steel doors, he from Dover, England, to northern France in
was able to complete his escape in 17 hours 51 minutes on August 30, 2011.
just 2 minutes so seconds-nearly
two minutes faster than in 1986. W B I KE LEAP Chilean base-jumper J ulio
Munoz roared off a massive cliff in the Andes
W ISLAN D SWI M J ulie Bradshaw on his motorbike, free-falling around 3,ooo ft
from Loughborough, England, (915 m) before opening his parachute. It took
swam the 28.5 mi (45.9 km) around him three years to plan the spectacular stunt,
New York's Manhattan Island in during which he had several cameras attached
9 hours 28 minutes, using only to his body so that he could film the jump from
the butterfly stroke. different angles.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
•• • • • • • • • • • •• • •
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On March 23, 201 1, a man in Chongqing, Chino,

set a record for the highest broadsword ladder climb
by scaling a ladder 94 ft 6 in high (28.8 m) built with
1 68 razor-sharp broadsword rungs ... in bore feet.
 ••••
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W ST I LT WAL K Wearing specially made W EYE R U N Noel Bresland from Manchester, W STU N N I N G STOG I E I n 2011, Cuba's Jose ..,.,
2-ft-high (6o-cm) aluminum stilts, Samati England, ran 26 mi (42 km)-the equivalent of Castelar "Cueto" Cairo rolled a massive cigar �
�
Yiming, a 33-year-old physics teacher, walked a marathon-on a treadmill inside a capsule that measured over 268 ft (81.8 m) long.
Q.l
..,.
65 ft (20 m) on a high wire that was suspended of the giant wheel, the London Eye, in 3 hours
70 ft (21 m) above the ground at a park in 51 minutes in London, England, in April 2o11. W MAG I C N UMBER Indian businessman
Xinjiang, China. Samati, who has been stilt Mohammed Farooque Dhanani from Mumbai,
walking for over 15 years, did not even use a W EXTRA LARGE In June 2011 in Nashville, has collected more than 31,000 currency
safety rope. In 2004, he walked for eight days Tennessee, a manufacturer unveiled a colossal notes from across the world-all ending with
on stilts, covering 180 mi (290 km), and the T-shirt measuring 180 x 281 ft (54.8 x 85.6 m)­ the serial number 786. The number has no
following year he walked for 49 steps on stilts that's nearly the size of a football field. The particular significance-he simply started
that were an incredible 52 ft (16 m) high . T-shirt took six weeks to make and weighed collecting it over a decade ago as a unique
more than two tons. hobby. His biggest surprise since then was
W MOU NTA I N WAL K In 2009, 34-year-old finding that the serial number on his new
Buddhist monk Endo Mitsunaga completed the W SC I SSOR HAPPY Barber Nabi Salehi of credit card ended in 786.
"Sennichi Kaihogyo" -one thousand days of London, England, cut the hair of 526 customers
meditation and walking around Mount Hiei, in just 24 hours on June 3, 2011.
Japan. During this time he walked 26 mi (42 km)
a day,' for periods of 100 or 200 days in a row.

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 r:1LOOSE C HANGE Craig Davidson of
£:1 LOST LEG A year after losing his right leg Phoenix, Arizona, collects loose change
W OLDEST RANGER Betty Reid Soskin is in a climbing accident, Hungarian climber he finds as he takes his morning jogs.
still an active ranger in the U.S. National Park Zsolt Eross scaled the world's fourth-highest In 30 years, he has found more than
Service-at the age of 90. She works at Rosie mountain-the 27,940-ft (8,516-m) peak $8,400 in dropped coins.
the Riveter National Historic Park in Richmond, of Lhotse in the Himalayas-wearing his
California, six hours a day, five days a week. replacement prosthetic leg. W POLAR F I RST Taking advantage of
seasonal melting ice caps in August 2011, a
W FLAM I NGO FAN Sherry Knight of Lecanto, W ROUTE 66 Andy McMenemy from team of six British explorers-Jock Wishart,
Florida, loves flamingoes so much that years Harrogate, England, ran 66 ultramarathons­ David Mans, Billy Gammon, Mark Delstanc e,
ago she started collecting flamingo-related each 31 mi (so km) long-on 66 consecutive Mark Beaumont and Rob Sleep- became

North Pole. During their 45o- nii (72o-km),

items-and now has over 619 pieces of days in 66 different cities in the U.K. the first people to row to the magnetic
flamingo memorabilia.
month-long voyage through Arctic waters,
they encountered polar bears, collided with
icebergs, and Wishart was bitten by a seal.

W GUM COLLECTOR Sarah Maughan

of Idaho Falls, Idaho, has collected over
1,400 different packages of gum . She began
collecting gum in 1948, beginning with a pack .
of Popeye bubble gum, and has been adding
new types and flavors for more than 6o years.

[;} SC U BA D I VE Diver and scuba instrucrtor

Allen Sherrod of Groveland, Florida, spent
more than five days 20 ft (6 m) underwater
in Lake David to complete the longest ever
freshwater dive. He surfaced on September 16,
2011, after 120 hours 14 minutes 32 seconds
in the lake, during which time he entertained
himself with a waterproof keyboard and
monitor that enabled him to watch movies
and check Face book.

W EPIC F L I G H T Paraplegic pilot Dave

Sykes of Dews bury, England, flew an
ultralight aircraft 13,480 mi (21,700 km)
from the U.K. to Sydney, Australia. Sykes,
who lost the use of his legs in a motorbike
accident in 1993, battled through dust
storms, thunder and lightning and baking
heat on his three-month solo flight over
20 countries.
• • • • • • •
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[;1MOU NTA I N J UMP In September 2011, r:J l iV I N G W I T H l i ONS Ukrainian private
�
stuntman Jeb Corliss of Malibu, California, zoo owner Alexander Pylyshenko lived for �
flew from the s,ooo-ft-high (1,524-m) summit 36 days in a cage with a lioness and her two
Ill
....
of China's Tianmen Mountain wearing a cubs. He slept on hay on the floor and ate food ....
wingsuit-which has extra fabric between that was passed through the bars. He installed
the legs and under the arms to help with lift. a toilet and shower inside the cage for personal
He glided like a bird down the mountain and hygiene, but had to avoid using shampoos and
across surrounding valleys before landing deodorants in case they irritated the lions. An
safely by parachute on a mountain road. artist by profession, he spent much of his time
in the cage painting portraits of roommates.
t:1 ONE-TRAC K M I N D A collector of rare
vintage toy trains for so years, Jerry Greene W GOLD C O I N Australia's Perth Mint
amassed over 3s,ooo items, worth a total unveiled the world's largest gold coin in 2011,
of more than $so million . He kept them in weighing 2,2os lb (1,000 kg) and measuring
the basement of his home in Philadelphia, 311f2 in (So em) in diameter and more than
Pennsylvania. He had about 1,700 locomotives 4% in (12 em) thick. Made of 99.99 percent
and cars, 700 stations and thousands of pure gold, the supersized coin bears an image
accessories. When he decided to sell of Queen Elizabeth II on one side and a leaping
the collection, it took his family three weeks to kangaroo on the other, and is worth more
unpack just s,ooo of the pieces for display. than $so million.

DOU BLE M USCLE

Strongman pastor Kevi n Fast enlisted the help of his
1 8-year-old so n Jacob to p u l l two fire tru c ks 1 00 ft (30 m)
down the street in their h o metown of Cobourg, Ontario,
in J u ne 201 1 . Combi ned, the trucks wei g h ed a massive
1 5 3,780 lb (69,755 kg) . The event was the latest in a long line
of stre ngth feats for Kevi n . H e has a lso p u l led a n e ntire h ouse
and a giant CC::-1 77 Globemaster I l l airplane weig hing 208 tons.
Charlie Sheen collected one million Twitter
followers in just over a day when he signe�
up to the site in March 2011, becoming the
fastest tweeter to reach seven figures. Sheen
gained 6o,ooo followers before even posting
his first tweet; he now has over six million,
but that isn't even enough to place him inside
the top 20 celebrity tweeters.

The world's first virtual retail store has opened in a busy

subway station in Seoul, South Korea, where all the goods
on display are just pictures. Choosing from over soo items,
ranging from food to electrical goods, smartphone users
download an app and make purchases by taking photos of
the barcodes. They can order goods on their way into work
and have them delivered when they get home.

• • • • • • •
• • • •
•• • • • •
•
·- - -
 • • •
•
e-ma ils a re sent
• 300 B I L L I O N

text messa ges are sent

• 22 B I L L I O N

videos are viewed on Yo uTube

• 3 B I LL I ON

peo ple log o n to Facebook

• 480 M I L L I O N

pictu res a re u p loaded to Facebook

• 250 M I L L I O N

tweets are sent

• 250 M I L L I O N

pictu res a re u ploaded to F l ickr

• 1 M I LL I ON

websites a re added t o t h e I nternet

• 5 8,630

A car transporter became stuck on

a mountainside near Greimersburg,
Germany, after its GPS had
mistakenly directed the driver along
a steep forest trail. It took a whole
day to recover the truck.
 [;) BEER CAN NON Technology consultant W SU PER MAR I O Born in 1985, the same year
Ryan Rusnak from Tyson's Corner, Virginia, has that Nintendo introduced the first "Super Mario
designed the Beer Bot, an iPhone-controlled Bros." game, Mitsugu Kikai from Tokyo, Japan,
refrigerator that uses a compressed air cannon has since collected more than 5.400 items of
to fire cans of cold beer across a room into Super Mario memorabilia.
waiting arms. The fridge is fitted with
an ioBridge microcontroller, a device
that allows the fridge to link
to Ryan's iPhone via the
Internet.

r:l ROYAL K I SS
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Prince William and Kate
Middleton on April 29,
no\
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ClOSU RES
out at the sound of his mother blowing her
nose went viral, racking up over two million

l:l PERF ECT GAMES Eighty-five-year-old

views in its first three days online. After just
four months, more than 21 million people had
John Bates of Onalaska, Wisconsin, has bowled watched it.
more than 3,200 perfect games-ones that
consist entirely of strikes-in Wii Sports W FACEBOOK FUGITIVE A man wanted
bowling. He plays about 20 games of in Utica, New York State, used his Facebook
Wii bowling a day. page to taunt police, "Catch me if you can, I'm

ril PRESI DENTIAL PRA N K "Rickrolling"

in Brooklyn." NYPD detectives said they tracked
Victor Burgos down to a Brooklyn apartment
is an Internet phenomenon in which an where they found him sitting at his computer
unsuspecting user who clicks on a link is with his Facebook page open.

r:l BOUGHT TOWN Maddie and Neal

directed to the video of Rick Astley's 1987
hit "Never Gonna Give You Up." When David
Wiggs from Tennessee complained in J uly 2011 Love bought the entire town of Wauconda,
that the White House Twitter feed on U.S. debt Washington State, on eBay for $36o,ooo.
was dull, the White House "rickrolled" him The remote outpost has a gas pump, a
by suggesting he click on the link that led to restaurant, a small store, a four-bedroom
Astley's video. house and its own ZIP code. At its peak in the
early 2oth century, the former mining town
W R I NG I N G CROC A cell phone kept had several hundred residents.
ringing inside the stomach of a crocodile
after a woman accidentally dropped it into fil H ARDY IMITAT I O N A Canadian Laurel
the enclosure while trying to take a photo. and Hardy fan has been posted on Twitter
Gena, a 14-year-old croc at the Dnipropetrovsk because of her distinctive name-Laurel-Ann
Oceanarium, Ukraine, refused food and began Hardie. A professor at Fanshawe College in
acting listlessly after swallowing the phone. London, Ontario, the former Laurel-Ann Hasen
The woman said she wanted her SIM card realized she would be subjected to attention

• • • • • • •
• ••
back as it contained her contacts. when she married James Hardie.

• • •
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W V I D EO SPOOFS Corey Vidal of Oakville, W A I R P H O N E An iPhone app has been W GREAT CATCH A YouTube dip showed a
Canada, makes a living from posting videos designed that blows out air through the spectator at a 2011 baseball game between the
on YouTube. He specializes in pop culture phone's speakers. It is powerful enough to Toronto Blue Jays and the Kansas City Royals
spoofs and light-hearted instructional videos, extinguish the candles on a birthday cake. catching a foul ball-in his popcorn bucket.
and in just four years his videos have been
seen more than so million times. "YouTube W SPEED RECORD On August 22, 2010, W FAST FLIGHT U.S. photographer Nate
saved my life," he says. Melissa Thompson from Manchester, England, Bolt posted a video on YouTube showing a
wrote the text message "the razor-toothed flight from San Francisco to Paris, France, in
W YOUNG DESIGNER At just 13 years piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and just 124 seconds. Armed with a camera and
of age, Aaron Bond from Devon, England, Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater a time-lapse controller, he took a picture
has designed and produced an iPhone app fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack approximately every 20-30 seconds of the
video game. Aaron, who set up his own web a human" in a record time of 25.94 seconds. n-hour journey from take-off to landing, a
company when he was only six years old, total of 2,459 shots.
learned how to write a smartphone game by
watching online tutorials. The game, "Spud
N TEN O O WA S FO UNDED W EXPERT DANCER On August 29, 2010,
•
N I
ED B Y
Run," involves navigating a mutant potato nine-year-old Ryota Wada from Herndon,

IN 1889-IT S TAR T S.
through a maze before it is mashed. Virginia, became the youngest person to
•

A RD
MAKING PLA YING C
achieve a perfect score on the expert level of
W CUTEST DOG After his U.S. owner the video game " Dance Dance Revolution." He
posted pictures of him on Facebook, Boo, a mastered all 223 steps and 16 combinations
five-year-old Pomeranian dog, has amassed while dancing to the song "Heavy Eurobeat."
more than two million "likes," landed a book W SMELLY PHONE The Japanese-produced
deal and been named the cutest dog in the F-022 cell phone has a detachable fragrance W BAD MAPS In November 2010, a
world. He acquired the look of a cuddly teddy chip that owners can saturate with perfume, Nicaraguan military commander blamed faulty
bear by accident, his natural long hair having which then infuses the entire phone with the Google maps for an accidental incursion by
become so knotted it had to be shaved off. chosen scent.

•
Nicaraguan soldiers into Costa Rica.

• • •
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W ORIGI NAL NAME Lior and Vardit Adler W PS2 COLLECTOR A dedicated gamer for W PETS' PAGES One in ten of all U.K. pets
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of Hod Hasharon, Israel, named their more than 19 years, games fanatic "Ahans76" have their own Facebook page, Twitter profile -·

daughter after a feature on the social has collected every PlayStation 2 game ever or YouTube channel, and more than half of pet
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networking site Facebook. They called
her Like in honour of a button on the site 1,850. He has spent around $6o,ooo on his Internet social networks.
that allows users to express their approval collection, but got lucky when, having searched Q.l
-
of photographs, links, comments and for years for an early, sealed "Moto GP" game, r:J SOCCER TWEETS Japan's penalty shoot­
status updates. a U.K. user sold it to him for $9 on eBay. out victory over the U.S.A. in the FI FA Women's
World Cup soccer final in Frankfurt, Germany,
Paul Silviak's head on J uly 17, 2011, prompted Twitter users to
and Robert Mahler's tweet in overdrive. At their peak, tweeters
body make up this were sending 7,196 tweets per second.
horsemaning pose with
a guillotine, taken
W PLAY I NG W I T H F I RE An enterprising
by Brent Douglas in
trombone player called Scott, from Jackson,
Oregon.
Missouri, has fitted up his trombone with
a gas tank so that it also serves as a
flamethrower. His YouTube video shows
him shooting out 21-ft-long (6-4-m) jets of
fire while playing his "Flamebone."

Jeffrey Bautista and Paul

Riddle from San Jose,
California, horsemaning
in formalwear.
 W CELEB R I TY CAT The escapades of
£i1H OllYWOOD DEAl Just four days Maru the cat have been viewed more than
W F R I SBEE CATCH A video clip of probably after uploading a short film to You Tube in 141 million times on YouTube. Described by
the greatest frisbee catch ever notched up November 2009, Uruguayan director Fede his Japanese owner as "a little bumbling and
1.5-million hits in just three days on YouTube. Alvarez was being courted by every studio a little awkward," Maru has been filmed in
Standing on a bridge so ft (15 m) above the in Hollywood-and within a month he had more than 200 videos, and has attracted
Swan River in Perth, Western Australia, Brodie been offered a $30-million contract to make around 190,000 subscribers who have signed
Smith hurled the frisbee soo ft (150 m) out a Hollywood sci-fi movie. His film, Ataque de up to be notified of his next adventure.
across the water, where Derek Herron leaped Panico! (Panic Attack!), featured giant robots
6 ft (1.8 m) from a moving speedboat to make destroying Uruguay's capital city, Montevideo. rllVI RTUAl C I TY Kevin Alderman of Tampa,
a spectacular one-handed, midair catch. Running for less than five minutes, it was made Florida, built a digital simulation of the city
on a budget of j ust $300. It has had more than of Amsterdam in the online game Second life
6.8 million views on YouTube. and subsequently sold the virtual property on
eBay for $so,ooo.
 •

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• •• • •
• • • •

Toyota has created a car that can change its entire appearance at
the touch of a button. The body of the hi-tech Fun-Vii is made of
touch-screen panels that allow the driver to alter the pattern on
display in an instant, like a smartphone. The car even flashes up a
greeti n g message to the driver on the door.

(:1 APP TO RESCUE After a Polish trucker

r:lTOTALLY BATTY When a group of students
r:J
YELLER PAGES Johnathan "Fatality" called the "Batman Boilers," from Purdue
was involved in a road crash near Colchester, Wendel from Independence, Missouri, has University, Indiana, posted a YouTube video
England, in J uly 2011, quick-thinking paramedic won over $soo,ooo by competing in of themselves hanging upside down by their
Nicola Draper downloaded an iPhone app so professional gaming competitions. He set feet- like bats-from the tops of walls, gates,
that she could treat him. When she realized the a world record for the game Quake, with a fences, statues and street signs, it led to a new
driver did not speak English, she searched for massive 671 kills in 6o minutes. Internet craze. "Batmanning" was inspired
the online medical Polish translator tool. partly by "planking," in which people are
(;1 FAST F I NGERS In July 2011, 15-year-old photographed face down in unusual places.
(;1 J UST I N'S KLOUT The San Francisco-based Eduard Saakashvili,
social networking index Klout has calculated son of the President
that Canadian teenage pop star Justin Bieber of Georgia, typed
is more influential online than the Dalai Lama the entire English
or Barack Obama. Klout adds up tweets, likes, alphabet (A to Z) on
pings, Linkedln connections, Google mentions, an iPad's software
status updates and other social media data to keyboard in just
measure a person's importance online. 5.26 seconds.

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In 2008, David DeVore from lake Mary, Florida, made a video

of his seven-year-old son, David, under the effects of anesthetic
after a dental procedure, which had a bizarre effect on his
behavior. When David Snr. uploaded the footage to YouTube
in January 2009, he was expecting only family and friends to
watch it, but the dip has since become a global phenomenon,
attracting more than 100 million views, musical remixes and
tribute videos. You can even buy T-shirts and stickers printed
with David's drowsy "Is This Real life?" catchphrase. In the
picture, top right, David models one of his T-shirts.
 £:JSHARK ROCK Matt Waller, a shark tour
operator in South Australia's Neptune Bay, has
found that great white sharks are attracted
by the music of Australian rock band AC/DC.
Using underwater speakers attached to diving
cages, he pumped rock hits through the ocean,
but whereas most had little effect, when the
great whites heard AC/DC they quickly swam
over and rubbed their jaws against the source
of the music.

m PSYC H IC POWERS Don Van Vliet, the U.S.

rock musician known as Captain Beefheart who
died in 2010, could allegedly change TV channels
using nothing more than his psychic powers,
according to producer Richard Perry. Perry
said that Beefheart could do this in unfamiliar
environments where he had no opportunity to
conceal a remote control beforehand .

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W MONEY TO BURN In 1994, the KLF (a U.K.

music duo consisting of Bill Drummond and
Jimmy Cauty) burned £1 million in cash of their
own money and filmed it as an art project.

ri1TAYLOR MADE All 14 tracks from U.S.

singer Taylor Swift's album Speak Now charted
on the Billboard Top 100. For the week of
November 13, 201o, she had no fewer than
11 singles on the Hot 100.

t:lM I L K I N G T H E J O KE British comedian

Milton Jones performed a stand-up routine
to a field of cows on a farm in Hertfordshire,
England, to see if they have a sense of humor. -
His set, called "Pull the Udder One," contained
jokes tailored specially for his four-legged
audience. Cows are believed to be more
productive if they are happy.

Hl UP H OUSE With an asking price of

$4oo,ooo, U.S. firm Bangerter Homes has built
an authentic replica of Carl Fredricksen's flying
house from the Disney/Pixar movie Up at
Herriman, Utah-complete with 195os' decor.

• • • • • •
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W C H UTE GOWN In 1947, Ruth

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Lok Lam died in fiv_e different TV soap operas

W F I VE DEAT H S Hong Kong actor Law

PerhapS inspired by F R [ O O D
the Twilight vampir the Popular appetite
in a 24-hour period in April 2011. One character
died in a fight, the second fatally vomited
and VampireeDmiaorievies and the True BIOOcJ
s TV show
blood, the third succumbed to an illness and for
although two more died offscreen, their deaths company has prod s, an Italian
were discussed by other characters. on the fo
ur u ced a li n e of p erfu
Although not actnublood groups, A. 8, AmBeabnasd 0.ed
m ai
W FRIENDS TRI BUTE A working replica of the each fragrance hasally filled with human blood
a hint ,
Friends coffee house, Central Perk, has been Bottles retailofatthemsormell of blood.
created in Beijing, China, because the U.S. TV e than $1so.
comedy series is so popular there.

W POTTER MAG I C In J uly 2011, the opening

weekend box-office takings of the movie Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 were
$169 million in the U.S.A. and $307 million
internationally, giving it the new opening­
weekend record in both categories.

W PREC I OUS WORDS The manuscript of an

unfinished novel by 19th-century Engli\h writer
Jane Austen sold for $1.6 million in London
in July 2011. Every page of the manuscript-
( ,
})
for an 1804 novel entitle T�e Watsons-is '
littered with crossings out, revisicms. and
\
additions, and is one of only a handful of
Austen's draft works to have survived.
-
• • • • •
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• • •
•• • • • • -
/
 t;l C H I CKEN COSTUME One of Brad Pitt's t;l F LORAL SH OES Florist Nikola Mihajlovic of oe C U S C NT 0 To film scenes in
first jobs was dressing in a giant chicken Gornjeg Milanovca, Serbia, provides wedding M ission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol, Tom
costume to lure customers to an El Pollo Loco day shoes for brides that he painstakingly Cruise had to go to the very top of the world's
Mexican fast-food restaurant in California. decorates with real flowers. He travels to tallest building, the 2,717-ft-high (828-m) Burj
every wedding with a small battery-powered Khalifa in Dubai-a journey that required him
• ,. ,.. ,... S It took more than 8oo,ooo refrigerator to keep the flowers fresh until the to take three elevators and then climb more
hours to create the computer-generated images bride is ready to walk down the aisle. than 443 ft (135 m) of ladders. ;.
for the 1995 movie Toy Story, which worked
out at more than a week of computer time for
every second on screen.
H O O F BOOTS
t;l SOCK IT TO MEl Each year, factories in To mark the centenary of Engla nd's
fa mous C h eltenham horse racing
Datang, China, produce enough socks to give
festival, fash ion desig ners created a
two pairs to every person on Earth.
pair of ladies' fashion boots and shoes
i n the style of horses' hooves for a wel l­
On June 17, 2011,
known betti ng company. T h e footwea r
Dave Browne from Dublin, Ireland, broke
was made u p of ca rbon-fi ber hooves
the world record for the longest continuous and some 5,000 individ ual horsehairs,
guitar-playing session after performing a a nd was sold for a round $2,000.
marathon five-day gig lasting 114 hours
20 minutes. He began with Dusty Springfield's
"Son of a Preacher Man" and finished 1.372
tracks later with U2's "With or Without You."

t;lTOO lOUD Finding himself surrounded

by a pack of four snarling wolves while on his
way home from school in Rakkestad, Norway,
13-year-old Walter Acre scared the animals off
by playing them a blast of U.S. heavy metal
band Megadeth on his mobile phone.

J Richard lneson of Whitby,

England, owns a giant banjo that measures
26V2 in (67 em) across the drum and stands
about 5 ft (1.5 m) high. Although the
novelty banjo is more than 100 years
old, it is still in good working condition.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
•• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
W WAN D DAMAGE During the making of the
eight Harry Potter movies, actor Daniel Radcliffe
(who plays the boy wizard) got through 160
pairs of glasses and wore out nearly 70 wands.

U.S. actress Romola Remus

Dunlap (1900-1987), the first actress to portray
The Wizard of Oz character Dorothy Gale in
film, has only two film credits and they are 77
years apart-1908 and 1985.

W SMO KIN' G U I TARS Chuck Meyer of New

Lenox, Illinois, builds guitars and mandolins
from cigar boxes, and spends hours searching
flea markets, tobacco shops and eBay for boxes
that will give the best sound.

U.K. salsa dancer

Sarah Jones won Spain's You've Got Talent
TV show in 2009-at the age of 75. She won
the first prize for an acrobatic routine with her
dancing partner Nicko, 40 years her junior.

•
•
 - -- llilJillJ't:J.The
frontman of U.S. rock band MetalUca was performing hebe 55,000 fans at
Montreal's Olympic Stadium in 1992 when he accidental ly stepped into the path
of one of the 12-ft-hitb � special-effects flames that had been rigged to
shoot up from the nnt cl the stage. His guitar peotected him fK.Mn the full force
of the 3,2oo•F (l,;r6o°C) blast, but fire still engulfed:his left·sidt,:,_;ng his
hand and ann, burning off his eyebrows and sin&einl his face and hair. Despite
suffering second- and third-degree bums, he was back on stage 17 days later.
 _ lJW••
00 In the 196os,
English rock star Arthur Brown-the "God of Hellfire" -used
to appear on stage wearing a burning metal crown. But at
a concert in Windsor, England, the methane that fueled the
crown spilled over his head and caught fire. Luckily, two
members of the audience doused the flames by pouring
beer over him.

�
�� U.S. rock band
My Chemical Romance shot their 2006 video for "Famous
Last Words" against a burning backdrop. But it backfired when
drummer Bob Bryar sustained bums to the backs of his
calves, which required a skin graft.

� Tommy lee,
drummer with u.s. rock band M5ttey Crlie, suffered
minor burns to his face and arms in 2005
when a pyrotechnics ,
�," \ explosion at a
concert in Casper,
Wyoming, went wrong.
lee was suspended on a
cable 30 ft (9 m) above
the stage at the time.
 Japanese artist Yoshihiko Satoh has W YOUNG REPORTER As H urricane Irene
battered the U.S. East Coast on August 27, 2011,
designed 1 2-necked guitars that are
five-year-old Jane Haubrich from Doylestown,
almost impossible to play. After fretting Pennsylvania, became the world's youngest
over his own inability to learn the guitar, TV reporter by delivering regular weather
updates throughout the day vi � CNN's iReport.
he decided to create 72-string
Her last report was sent over right before
monsters that even the most her bedtime.
accomplished musician
W FAMOUS POSE In 1928, Mexican
would struggle to play.
actor Emilio Fernandez was approached by
Each guitar took Hollywood art director Cedric Gibbons to
up to six months pose naked for a full-length sketch. Fernandez
agreed reluctantly, but the moment made him
to make and
immortal as the drawing was used to create
some have the design for the Oscar statuette.
sold for
W COOL MOV I ES A temporary outdoor
$90,000.
movie theater in London, England, was
built mainly from 150 recycled refrigerators.
U.S. design student Lindsey Scannapieco
conceived "Films on Fridges," a venue where
the screen was surrounded by old fridges, the
bar was made of fridge parts, and fridge doors
were incorporated into the seating.

W PARTY POOPER In their teens, the Followill

brothers of U.S. rock band Kings of Leon used
to throw parties at their father Ivan's house.
When Ivan decided it was time for the party
to break up, he would put jalapenos in the
microwave, and the fumes burned everyone's
eyes so that they quickly left the house.

W ORGAN REC I TAL Fueled by coffee,

vitamins and jellybeans, Jacqueline Sadler
of Toronto, Canada, played a church organ
contin uously for over 40 hours in June 2011.

• • II • •
- - .
• • •
.. . - Ill a ISIII
 [;) U NWAS H E D J EANS Josh Le, a student at
the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada,
wore the same pair of jeans nearly every day
for 15 months without washing them. At the
end of the experiment, he found that the
amount of bacteria on his unwashed jeans was
no greater than on a pair that had been worn
for only 13 days.

W MUSI CAl T I E British Conservative

Mem ber of Parliament Nadh im Zahawi
apologized to fellow mem bers during
a debate i n the House of Commons
after he was interrupted in the
middle of a speech by his own
musical tie. The red tie em itted a
tinny tune that was amplified by
a m icrophone above his head.

W RECORD R U N Actor George

Lee Andrews played opera
house-manager Monsieur Andre in
the same Broadway production of the
musical Phantom of the Opera for 23 years

12 different actors played \he role of

and a record 9,382 shows. During his run ,

the Phantom.

W POPPED T H E Q UEST I O N For

her wedding to Duncan Turner,
schoolteacher Rachel Robinson
from Lincolnshire, England,
wore a dress made from
bubble wrap. The dress
and train were made out
of 13 ft (4 m) of the
packing material by
pupils and parents
from her school.
The sheets of
bubble wrap were
stitched together,
attached to an inner
lining of cloth, and
topped off with white
packing foam and candies.

W SH ORT STOR I ES A 2005

anthology of fiction called
Meeting Across the River
comprised 20 short stories
by different writers based
entirely on a song of the
same title from the
1975 Bruce Springsteen
album Born To Run.
W C HART GLEE In 2010, the cast
of the TV series Glee had So singles chart
on the Billboard Hot 100, the most by any
act in a single year in the chart's history.
W TOTAL FAITH Hollywood executives
[;.) AUTO ACC I DENT Dutch TV show host were apprehensive about casting Leonardo
Ruben Nicolai was run over while recording DiCaprio as the Kid in the 1995 movie The
a 2011 show designed to find the country's Quick and the Dead, but co-star Sharon Stone II

SQUARE EYES
worst driver. The driver was perform i ng a task was so confident in his ability she paid his
that involved steering between traffic cones salary out of her own pocket.
when he lost control and sent the car careering
To mark the 60th a n n iversary of
toward a camer��an and Nicolai , who was W I NTERV I EW K I N G From every U.S. TV i n the N etherlands, six people
taken to hospital with a torn lip, shoulder pain president since Gerald Ford to rap star Snoop stayed awa ke and watched TV
and a sore foot. Dogg, TV host Larry King has interviewed more n onstop for 87 hours. Fifty-five
than 50,000 people in a career spanning over people started o ut in the
[;.) SHED GIGS Jon Earl has used his garden 50 years. That works out at an average of more attem pt-stag ed in pods at a
shed, measuring just 12 x 10 ft (3.6 x 3 m), than three interviews a day. studio in H ilversu m-but by the
in Somerset, England, to stage gigs by more fou rth evening o n ly six were stil l
than 1,ooo m usicians from all over the world, W TV WATC H D OGS Recent research g l ued t o their screen.
including legendary folk-rock band Fairport shows that the average dog in the U.K.
Convention and a 26-strong gospel choir. watches 50 minutes of TV a day, with one in
ten watching at least two hours. Labradors [;.) QUEEN DETH RONED In January 1976,
are the biggest TV addicts and soaps are dogs' Queen's song " Bohem ian Rhapsody," which
favorite programs. contains the famous line "mamma m ia,
mamma mia, mamma m ia, let me go," was
knocked off the n um ber one spot in the U.K.
chart by Abba's "Mamma Mia."

m 'lf'A
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� �@ij��
From a distance, the dummies look
so genuine when they are fitted
with diverse masks and costumes
that thousands can be used for one
scene, and film producers don't
have to hire real-life extras. Each
crowd member must be inflated,
dressed and placed on their seat,
and fitted with individual wigs and
masks. At the end of filming they
all need to be deflated, packed
and shipped to another film or
back to storage. Outdoor filming
presents the biggest problems.
When filming on a beach in
Iceland for Flags of Our Fathers, the
dummies were nearly blown into
the sea by strong winds. When
the clothed inflatables are soaked
from rain, they are twice as heavy.
Real-life actors are usually placed
in the foreground and randomly
throughout the rubber crowd.
As the human extras move, they
create the illusion of a teeming
mass in the background of the
scene. The dolls have also been
used for commercials, TV shows

(2006). Two thousand

A rubber crowd looks on during fi lming for the college
footbal l movie We Are Marsh all
four hundred dummies were used. T he only real people
in the crowd were seen walking up the stadium steps.
 m T F
I'"EEPER During the making of the m E T Tl To boost sales of his 2011
1963 movie Cleopatra, Elizabeth Taylor's then book Martian Summer: Robot Arms, Cowboy
husband Eddie Fisher was paid $1,500 a day Spacemen, and My 90 Days with the Phoenix
just to make sure she got to work on time. Mars Mission, Brooklyn author Andrew Kessler
opened a new bookstore in New York City's
W M I N IATURE MASTERPIECE Collector West Village and stocked it with 3,ooo copies
of min iature books N i kunj Vagadia of of just one book- his own. The store, Ed's
Rajkot, India, owns a tiny gold-plat�d copy Martian Book, had alien artwork on the walls
of Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography that and was divided into sections including "staff
measures a mere 1.3 x 1.8 in (3 .25 x 4-5 em). favorite," "self-help" and "best seller," although
in each case the recommendation was, of
Sean course, the same book.
Forbes of Detroit,
[;] BOSS T R I BUTE There are more than
been deaf since 6o Bruce Springsteen tribute acts working in
chi ldhood-yet he is the U.S.A. and Europe, including The B Street
Band who played at New Jersey governor
Chris Christie's inaugural ball after Springsteen
h imself declined the invitation.

speaks it. EF Members of the St. laurence

Connecticut-based British designer Rob
Ch urch in the vi llage of H i lmarton in Wiltshire,
Matthews had a novel idea to highlight
England, found a 400-year-old original copy of
how much we rely on cyberspace for
information-he published a book the 1611 King James Bible, of which fewer than

made from hundreds of articles from 200 exist, sitting unnoticed on a church shelf.

the popular Wikipedia website, and

it's 19 in (48 em) thick. Incredibly, Rob
used only 437 articles from the site, just
o.oo2 percent of the content available.
If all the articles on Wikipedia were made
into a book, it would be over 225 million
pages long, or 131h mi (21.6 km) thick, and
would require a bookshelf the length of
Manhattan Island in New York.

W N UMBERS BOOK A Million Random

Digits with 1oo, ooo Normal Deviates, a book
contain ing nothing but a giant list of randomly
generated n um bers, sold thousands of copies
in the 1950s and 1960s.

B T Wang Kang, a telecoms

worker from Shanghai, China, enjoyed the
2008 movie Iron Man so m uch that he spent
nearly three years building his own no-lb [;] EUROPE TOUR london, England, m usic -
(so-kg) suit of armor and then wore it to journalist Greg Parmley visited 26 live m usic
the office-to the amazement of his work festivals across Europe in 30 days. Traveling by
colleagues. Some froze as he approached motorbike, he journeyed 5,500 m i (8,8oo km)
them in his robotic suit, and others screamed. through 13 countries and saw over 150 bands
playing live.
[;] H EALT H Y PRO F I T leafing through a pile [;] BEST SELLERS With com bined sales of more
• c IT
of old textbooks bought at auction in 2010 than 450 m i llion copies (and translated into G L I n 2010,
for a total of $10, Bill and Cindy Farnsworth of 67 languages), J . K . Rowling's series of Harry Haynes, the U.K. publisher best known for its
Austin, Texas, found a 25-cent banknote that Potter books is the fourth best seller of all in-depth car manuals, unveiled an unusual
had been hand-signed in 1843 by the President time, behind only the Bi ble (3 billion copies), addition to its range of workshop titles-a
of the Republic of Texas, Sam Houston. They the Quran (1.5 billion) and Quotations from detailed guidebook devoted to the workings of
later sold the note for $63,250. Chairman Mao (Boo m i llion). Star Trek's U.S.S. Enterprise.

• • • • • • • •
• •• • •
• • • •
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• ••
For the· launch of the 201 1 Sony Picture
movie The Smurfs, the traditional white
houses, businesses and even a church in
the Spanish village of Juzcar were painted
blue, using 1,1 1 0 gal {4,200 I) of paint.
The locals liked the new color so much
they voted to �eep it. For the fll m itself, m FAMOUS W I GGLE The bottom wiggle r:1 F I RST N OVEL A girl with cerebral palsy
designers built an exact two-thirds that became one of Marilyn Monroe's who can write only by touching a keyboard
trademarks was the result of her having with her lips has been offered a contract
replica of Belvedere Castle in Central weak ankles and bow legs. Once she saw to have her first novel published. Wang
Park, New York. the attention her walk was Qianji n , 18, of Zhenjiang, China, is virtually
getting, she emphasized it completely paralyzed and has never
by sawing a q uarter of an had a day's schooling in her life-but
r:1 TWIST PARAD E During the 2011 Mandan inch off the right heel of all she taught herself Chinese by watching
Independence Day Parade in Mandan, North of her shoes. captioned TV dramas and memorizing
Dakota, 2,158 people lined up on Main Street the pronunciation and structure of the
to dance the Twist. different characters.

m ELV I S F EST I VAL Over 4,000 Elvis Presley

fans flock to the annual Elvis Festival at
Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, which ends
with over 120 Elvis impersonators competing to

Y O UR
become Grand Champion.

r:1 ELEPHANT ORC H ESTRA Formed by U.S.

composer Dave Soldier and conservationist
Richard lair, the Thai Elephant Orchestra has
released three COs of m usic, which feature
UP LO A D S
elephants playing giant instruments such as www . r i p l eys . com/sub m i t

xylophones, drums and harmonicas. T i ff a n y Te z n a , f r o m Vi rg i n i a , a n d h e r

best friend sent u s these p ictu res
r:1 ElVIS IMPERSONATOR Simon Goldsmith o f s ty l i s h a n d v i b ra n t we d d i n g a n d
of Suffolk, England, sang Elvis Presley hits b r i d e s m a i d d re s s e s t h a t t h e y d e s i g n e d a n d
nonstop for more than 35 hours in 2010. c o n s t r u c t e d f r o m M a r s h m a l l ow P e e p s c a n d y .

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played Mozart to its ripening bananas for a German TV station, eccentric U.S. pop singer a professional singer from Nagpur, India,
week in the belief that classical music makes Lady Gaga wore a coat made from the bodies sang contin uously for Bo hours-that's c
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for sweeter fruit. of Muppet Show character Kermit the Frog. The more than three days-in 2010, during ..

r:l D O I N G T H E MACARENA A record­

green furry creation by designer Jean-Charles which time he performed nearly 1,ooo songs. c
£;1 BACTERIA FASH I ON Suzanne Lee from
de Castelbajac was draped with dozens of -

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breaking total of 2,219 staff and students Kermits, and Lady Gaga even wore a Kermit Q
from schools and colleges in Plymouth, head as a matching hair decoration. the Central Saint Martins School of Fashion

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Macarena in J uly 2011. a range of clothes from bacteria. She has ·

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developed a technique for creating a cellulose -
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as the Greek god Achi lles in the 2004 movie sweetened green tea, which, when dried, c
Troy, Brad Pitt tore his left Achilles tendon, can be shaped into thin shirts and jackets.
delaying the movie's final scenes for months. �
£:1 BACKWARD PIAN I ST U.S. student Evan
Petrone can play m usic with his back to the
piano. He filmed himself sitting down, facing
away from the keyboard, before twisting his
arms into a seemingly impossible position
to play "Clocks" by Coldplay. He suffers from
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which gives him
unusually loose joints and ligaments. He said
he chose "Clocks" because it was simple and
repetitive, but it still took him more than
five hours to get his brain
to adjust to his unusual
playing position.
 0

Natalie Irish of Houston, Texas, paints with her lips. Wearing

colorful lipstick, she presses her lips against a blank canvas to
create amazing portraits of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe
and Jimi Hendrix. She varies the pressure of her kisses to achieve
different shades and textures, and applies several layers to
achieve darker tones.

• • • • • • •
 Why did you start to use your lips for
art? / love using everyday things in
ways that they weren't intended. I
learned the thumbprint technique in
high school. It was different, and a
challenge. I started with lipstick in
2001, and that was so exciting.

There was a lot of problem-solving involved.

Are all your lip paintings freehand (free-lip?) or do you use
a guide? I sketch an image on paper and then look at that as
a reference, but I don't draw on the canvas, only use kisses.
Do you use regular lipstick or special paints? Lipstick.
I sometimes use theater makeup as well-it gives me a wider
range of colors while retaining the details of the print. I have
tried other mediums, but they don't have the same texture
as real lipstick.
What problems do you come across in your lip art,
compared to more conventional techniques? And what
do you like about your unique style? I like that it is such
a challenge. My eyes are easily fatigued because of having to try
and focus a few inches from my face and then to step back and
take in the entire image. Everything is new territory. If I have
a problem I must figure it out myself, there are no references.
How long can your portraits take to complete, and do your
lips get tired? It varies greatly, on average about two to three
weeks. My lips get extremely tired, chapped and swollen. The
majority of the Influence video was completed in one sitting for
the time-lapse filming. My lips were bleeding by the end of it.

• • • • •
• • • • • • • •• •
-- . .
. . . .. . . . - -
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[;} YOUNG
PAI NTER
At age four,
Aelita Andre W B R I C K CAR Chi nese artist Dai
of Melbourne, Geng spent over a year making a full-sized
Australia, had a solo art exhibition at a gallery model of a BMW car by cementing h undreds
in New York City-and her paintings sold of bricks together. Only the windows of the car W LONGEST TRA I N I n 2011, after more than

painting since she was just n months old,

for up to $9,000 each. Aelita, who has been are not made of brick. The bodywork, tires, 3,500 hours of work, a group of volunteers
steering wheel, exhaust pipe and trimmings from Wilmington Railroad Museum, North
specializes in large, colorful, abstract works, are all brick, and he even managed to build Carolina, built a model train comprising
which often have chi ldren's toys and other brick hinges so that the doors open and dose. 31 locomotives and 1,563 freight cars that
small objects stuck to them. stretched a record 925 ft (282 m) long, and
W FOOD I LLUSTRATOR Graphic designer could move under its own power.
[;} U N D ERWEAR EXH I B I T Yi Ci, a student at David Meldrum from Essex, England, kept a
China's H ubei Institute of Fine Arts, collected record of everyth ing he ate for a year between W TOOT H PI C K L I N ER Wayne Kusy used
several hundred items of underwear to J une 15, 2010, and J une 14, 2011, by painting a m i llion toothpicks to make a model of the
arrange as a piece of art entitled Privacy for every meal. His i llustrations, which were liner Queen Mary that was so big it filled his
her graduation exhi bition. exhibited at a london gallery, revealed that Chicago, I llinois, apartment. The 25-ft-long
in the course of the 12 months he consumed (7.6-m) model had to be built in six sections
1,360 cups of coffee, 305 pints of Peroni beer so that he could get it out of the building.
and 122 Freddo chocolate bars.
W MASTER F ORGER For decades, experts
believed that The Procuress, a painting at the
-
Courtauld Institute of Art in london, England,
was a prized 17th-century copy of a work by
Dutch master Dirck van Baburen. However, in
2011 it emerged that the painting was instead
the work of Dutch master forger Han van
Meegeren, who died in 1947. Van Meegeren,
who specialized in faking great artworks,
swindled his buyers out of the equivalent of
$100 m illion in today's money. One forgery
fooled the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam into
parting with the equivalent of $18 m illion,
but that painting now languishes in the
museum storeroom .

• • • • • •
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Jil-
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Californian artist Michael Kalish
created a giant tribute to boxer
Muhammad Ali out of 1,300
punch bags. Viewed close up,
the 26 X 23 X 25 ft (7.9 X 7 X ].6 m)
installation, which was unveiled
in Nokia Plaza, los Angeles, in
March 2011, looks like a series
of punch bags randomly hung
from a metal frame. It's only from
a distance that the punch bags
morph into a portrait of Ali.

W C HANG I N G COLORS Surendra Kumar W CABLE HAT To brighten up the dull gray W SCRAP D I N OSAUR Brian Boland of Post
Verma and a team of helpers from Kharagpur, electrical junction boxes in leeds, England, Mi lls, Vermont, built "Vermontasaurus," a
India, created a 294-sq-ft (27-sq-m) Rangoli local artists gave them a makeover. One box 25-ft-tall (7.6-m), 122-ft-long (37.2-m) dinosaur
sand artwork, which appears as two enti rely was put beh ind red velvet curtains that opened sculpture made from wood. He cut a huge pine
different portraits depending on whether green to reveal a painting of acrobatic rabbits and tree into four pieces and sank them into the
or red light is used to illum inate it. hares, while another was covered by a giant ground as the bases for the feet. He assembled
wooly hat, hand-kn itted from electric cable the body from old planks and discarded j unk,
W ART S I C K N ESS People with Stendhal by Sheffield artist Tony Broom head. including the belly of an old guitar and part of
Syndrome become so overwhelmed in the a ladder from a child's bunk bed.
presence of fine art that they suffer dizziness, W TRASH H OTEL German artist HA Schult
fainting and confusion . built a temporary hotel in Madrid, Spai n, from W NOVELTY TREE The Rocks, a shopping
garbage. The five-bedroom Beach Garbage district in Sydney, Australia, erected a
Hotel opened in January 2011. Christmas tree made from chairs in 2008,
another made from bottles in 2009 and one
made of bicycles in 2010.
 W F I NGER FACE U.S. actress N ikki Reed
spent four hours painting the face of her fiance,
former American Idol star Paul McDonald,
on each of her gold metallic fingernails for the
Teen Choice Awards 2011.

H1 C U B I ST MOVEMENT Josh Chatom of

Toronto, Canada, and a team of eight assistants
spent more than 400 hours re-creating
M ichelangelo's masterpiece The Hand of God
using 12,090 Rubik's Cubes. The finished work
measured 29 x 15 ft (8.8 x 4.6 m ) and weighed
2,ooo lb (907 kg). The individual cubes, which
were bought for $1 each, had to be adjusted
by hand so that the colors matched those i n
the original. The Hand of God was t h e first part
of a project to copy the entire ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel, in Rome, Italy, usi ng 25o,ooo

da Vinci's famous
Rubik's Cubes. Chatom has also created Rubik's
Cube versions of leonardo
works The Last Supper (which Chatom sold for
$5o,ooo) and the Mona Lisa.

W TOP MAR KS Charlie Kratzer used only

$10 worth of black permanent markers to
create a magnificent mural that covers every
,.
square inch of wall space in the basement of
his lexington, Kentucky, home. His cartoon
creation features fictional detectives Hercule
Poi rot and Sherlock Holmes, artists Pablo
Picasso and Claude Monet, British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill with author and
playwright George Bernard Shaw, and TV
squirrel Rocky and his moose pal Bullwinkle .

• • •
• • •
•
[;) D EAT H WATCH B EETLE Artist Mike Libby m ART I F I C IAL A N I MALS Dutch artist Theo
from Portland, Oregon, customizes real dead Jansen creates giant artifi cial animals from
insects, spiders and crabs with antique watch plastic pipes and rubber tubes that walk
parts and electronic components to create around powered by wind and carry sensors
intricate sculptures of new hybrid creatures. He that allow them to change direction. One of
was inspired by finding an intact dead beetle, his kinetic creatures is so sophisticated that
which he thought looked and worked like a it can anchor itself to the ground if it senses
small mechanical device. So, he sought out an a storm approaching.
old wristwatch, and added its screws, springs
and gears to the insect's body to create a [;) ANTlER STATUE Artist Kurt Gordon of
mechanical beetle sculpture. Each of his pieces Dubois, Wyoming, created a life-size elk
takes up to 40 hours to create and can sell for statue made entirely of discarded antlers.
up to $2,ooo. Gordon, who has been working with
antlers for over 35 years, has also sold antler
W SUSH I SOCCER In August 2011, 20 chefs in chandeliers to hotels all over the world.
Bod0, Norway, created a soccer-themed mosaic
. .

C H I S
from 13 'o oo pieces of sush I over an area of
270 sq ft {25 sq m).

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W ON TAPE U krain ian-born Mark Khaisman

[;) WO R K I N G MODEl Fernando Benavides from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, creates
from Madrid, Spain, has built a remote-control amazing artworks-including his favorite
LEGO™ car that has all-wheel drive, a working movie scenes-from packing tape. By using
seven-speed dual-clutch transm ission, a layers of translucent brown tape on backlit
working retractable hardtop, a retractable Plexiglas panels, he i s able to depict light and
spoiler and three working differentials. He shade and even detailed facial features. The
spent 18 months building the Porsche 911 darkest sections of his images require up to
:
Cabriolet from 3 soo LEGO pieces. ten layers of tape, and he uses around three
330-ft (1oo-m) rolls on each picture.

l:J POST·I T'ID D RAW I NGS Artist John Kenn

W MARBLE MOSA I C A team of 15 artists
from the U.K. and Bahrain spent four months
creating a marble mosaic of the Sultan of Mortensen of Copenhagen, Denmark, has
Oman usi ng 128,274 individual pieces of marble drawn over 250 illustrations on humble Post­
in 90 different natural shades. The mosaic it Notes. His works, which sell for up to $100
measured 27.2 ft x 17.4 ft {8-3 x 5·3 m) and had each, often feature spooks and creatures
Does vomiting as often as you do
to be created using a photograph of the sultan, inspired by U.S. horror author Stephen Ki ng.
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affect your health at all?

m B EC OM I NG V I NCENT Artist James

as he rarely appears in public and did not sit
for the artwork in person. His face alone took
40 days to complete, the beard and mustache Birbeck from Edmonton, Canada, turned
being made from the sultan's favorite stone, h imself into a Vincent van Gogh portrait.
i mported all the way from Italy. After friends noted his physical resemblance
to the Dutch master, Birbeck bought a
[;) LABOR OF lOVE Despite losing the sight jacket like Vincent's and applied paints
in her left eye when she was a child, 69-year­ and makeup to his face to complete the
old grandmother Heather Hems, of Hampshire, transformation.

l:J FOOT CARVER Perna Tshering of

England, has spent 12 hours a day for more
than 17 years creating an embroidery covering
540 sq ft {so sq m)-the size of 12 table tennis Thimph u, B h utan, is a professional artist
tables. Her creation features important world who carves and paints with his feet. He was
figures, as well as major global events such born with cerebral palsy and congenital
as the Moon landing. She has devoted more deformities in his spinal column, which
than 70,ooo hours to the tapestry, spending have rendered both of his arms useless.
thousands of dollars in materials. The work has He also has only limited use of his legs, but
also been so physically exhausting that she has carves beautiful wooden dragons, holding
had to undergo shoulder surgery. the i mplements between his toes.

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W H ORSE BLOOD For a 2011

project in luxembourg exploring
trans-species relationships, artist
Marion laval-Jeantet injected
herself with horse blood plasma.
I n the performance piece, titled
May the Horse Live in Me, she also
wore a set of sti lts with hooves
on the end.

r:1 C H OPST I C K TREE To raise

awareness of the 100 trees that are
felled in China each day to make
chopsticks, the China Environmental
Protection Foundation assembled
30,ooo used chopsticks to create a
16-ft-h igh (s-m) sculpture of a fallen
tree in a Shanghai street.

r:1 OCEAN SCU LPTURES Artist

Andrew Baines stages live "surreal
sculptures" in the sea off Australia.
In 2011, he persuaded a farmers' group
to train a small herd of cows to stand
in the ocean for ten minutes so that he
could complete his work of art. He had
previously posed businessmen reading
newspapers in the surf and hired the
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra to play
tunes in shallow water. W WHALE SONGS Mark Fischer, an expert
in marine acoustics from San Francisco,
r:1 GUN CONVERS I O N For his work California, captured the sounds of whales and
Palas por Pistolas, artist Pedro Reyes dolphins and transformed their songs into
collected 1,527 guns in the city of Culiacan, beautifully patterned visual artworks by using
Mexico, and transformed them into shovel a mathematical process known as the

• • • • • • • •
heads to be used in a tree-planting project. wavelet transform .

• • • • •
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[;] F I LM I N G EROS I ON Kane :�iii­
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Cunningham bought a clifftop house near Guernsey, Channel Islands, built a m i niature
Scarborough, England, for a cut-price metropolis from 1oo,ooo staples.
f3,ooo because coastal erosion means His 20 x 10 ft (6 x 3 m) city-named
that it will soon fall into the sea. He is Ephem icropolis-comprised dozens of
using it as an art installation, The Last gleaming silver skyscrapers made from
Post, rigging rooms with cameras so that staples and took 40 hours to build.

eJ SMAllEST AQUAR IUM Russian

he can film its eventual collapse.

eJ ARTWORK CANN E D A j udge ordered micromin iature artist Anatoly Konenko has
- an art storage company from London, devised the world's smallest aquarium­
England, to pay over f350,ooo for holding just two teaspoons (10 m l) of
accidentally disposing of a sculpture by water. The miniature glass tank measures
Indian-born Turner Prize-winning artist 1.2 x 0.9 x o.6 in (3 x 2.4 x 1-4 em). Even so,
An ish Kapoor in a dumpster. The 1984 it contains miniature plants, stones and
artwork Hole and Vessel l/ was thrown several tiny zebrafish, which had to be added
away during building work in 2004. with a tiny net. The water was applied with
a syringe in order to avoid disturbing the
[;] H UMAN SPI ROGRAPH aquarium arrangement.
Illinois-born
visual artist [;] MAGNET I C
Tony Orrico STATUE T i m Szeto
creates huge and Denis Saveliev,
Spirograph-like the founders of
artworks using his Nanodots-small
body as the cog wheel. magnetic toy balls­
Holding drawing used over 550,ooo gold
materials in his hands, Nanodots to create a
he moves his arms replica of the Golden Globe
�ing
straight, bending h is
in circles while award that weighed more
than 6oo lb (272 kg). The statue
knees or standing on his was created in Canada before
toes to create patterns being unveiled in Los Angeles,
on a blank canvas. Each Californ ia.
artwork can take 12 hours
of physical effort. W lEGO FROG Dave Kaleta
from Chicago, I llinois, made
t:J VALUABLE VASE An an anatomically accurate
18th-century Chinese model of a dissected frog
vase found by a from LEGQ® bricks.
brother and sister The model took
during a clearout h i m seven hours
of their late to build and used
parents'
modest
semidetached
house in London,
England, fetched over £51.6 m i llion at
As a prot
est agai
an auction in 2010. The auctioneers
the e vil nst what
of plastic he consi
had given the 16-in-high (4o-cm)
credit ca ders to b
based ar rd e
vase a guide price of only f8oo,ooo.
tist Cain s, los A ng
When the hammer went down cards do Motter b e les­
wn into urns an
after 30 m i n utes of frantic bidding, creative d melts o
then se sculptur ld
the owners had to be led from the lls for up es, whic
to S /, 20 h he
auction room in shock. Pay off
his credi 0 apiece-
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 cllatr ?1&eK� Artist Kerry Howley from Cambridge, England, makes
necklaces from human hair. She spends up to 6o hours
creating each necklace, cutting and weaving the strands
into abstract shapes. The hair is held in place by tiny
specks of glue. Kerry's main source of materials is her
mother's Japanese friend, who agreed to have 12 in
(30 em) cut from her waist-length hair.

l:J J U N KYARD
GEN I US Retired
automobile dismantler
Dick Schaefer turns trash
into treasure by converting
rusty old cars into scary
sculptures of monster insects. The yard
of his home in Erie, Pennsylvania, houses

1:1 F O I L BALL Dave Mok of Toronto,

a giant bee made from a cement truck and
a car, as well as a huge spider with the body
of a Volkswagen Beetle. Canada, created a 20-lb

m CURTA I N RODS At the Roundhouse

(9-kg) ball made with
tinfoil collected
venue in London, England, Israeli artist Ron from cigarette pack
Arad created an installation titled Curtain wrappers over a
Call-a curtain made of 5,6oo, 26-5-ft-h igh five-year period.

1:1 R I C E MOUNTA I N On
(8.1-m) si licon rods. Measuring 59 ft (18 m ) in
diameter, the curtain formed a 360-degree
canvas for screening movies, live performance February 23, 2011, a food company
or audience interaction. from Shizuoka, Japan, made a rice-ball
mosaic of Mount Fuji from 22,350 rice balls
W REGAL F I N D A couple renovating their in five different colors. The mosaic measured
home in Somerset, England, uncovered a 37 ft 5 in x 21 ft 4 in (11.4 x 6.5 m) and
6-ft-h igh (1.8-m), 500-year-old m ural of King later was dismantled to feed rice balls to
Henry VIII on one of the walls. Angie and some 2,ooo people.

m RAI N I NG H OUSE
Rhodri Powell had been removing wooden
panels from the wall so that they could paint it.
The house was once home to Thomas Cranmer, For a project conceived
one of Henry's closest advisers. by Australian artist
Fascinated by the way light a n d

m l iVER OP U.S. actor Larry Hagman­

James Div�, a c o l o r reflect o ff a com pact disk, Sean
fully furnished Avery from Ottawa, Ca nada, ma kes
famous for playing ruthless oil tycoon house in scu l ptures of birds and a nimals­
J.R. Ewing in Dallas-has an artwork Aarhus, including a rat and a fa lcon-from old
containing a collection of 150 silver staples Denmark, was C Os. H e cuts u p the disks with scissors,
from his 1995 liver transplant. destroyed by arran ges the shards according to size

1:1 MART IAL ARTS Sixty-year-old Ba Desheng

raining 44 gal and color, and then attaches them to a
(200 l) of water wire mesh fra me using a h ot g l u e g u n .
of Kaifeng City, China, uses kung-fu skills to indoors every minute Some of his works use 300 disks and
draw giant calligraphy with a 6-ft-6-in-long for a month , causing the ta ke a mo nth to co m plete.
(2-m) brush that weighs 11 lb (5 kg). onset of damp and dry rot.

• • • • • II •
 Matthews of Rochdale, England,
cracked open 29 double-yolked
eggs in a row from one carton.
Only the 30th and final egg in the
box had a single yolk. The odds
C h ri s A n
te s o f of cracking open just one double­
c l e ve l a
s en t in n d ' O h io
th e s e . '
P l c t u re s o . yolked egg are one in a thousand.
of g um f P i e ce
that he s

�
h s s cu
m o re t h lp te d i
an 250 n to
I. n c l u d i n g d i f e re (;) SOUR TASTE Liu Yuejin of

:�
n t s h ap
an im als e s-
a n d b o dy g e ta le Zhenj iang, Chi na, drank three
b s ' fr u i t
p o r t s :_
ha n ds . I t hout u bottles of vinegar in 28 seconds as
s in g h i s

o Ids t h
n s te a d
h e I· s k t h e Gu Mon
n o wn ' m
' m part of a competition to promote
' as
th e de s e gum . the health benefits of drin king
ir e d s h a I n to
p e I. n h
a n d ca is m o u t h vinegar. After undergoing medical
n com pl '
e te a n
a rt i n le e w Wo rk examinations to check they did not
ss tho o f
n 4 5 se c
onds. suffer from h igh blood pressure,
heart disease or mental i llness,
contestants had to dri nk three
(;) POTATO D I ET Chris Voigt, head of the 121/2-fl-oz (375-ml) bottles of local
Washington State Potato Commission, ate fiJ FAST PIZZA Takeout pizza shop owner vinegar, one after the other.
nothing but potatoes for 6o days in 2010 to Alberto Valotta from Hemel Hempstead,
prove the nutritional value of the starchy England, hired a $225,000 Lamborgh ini with fiJ COOKI NG MARAT H O N In a world­
vegetable. He lost 21 lb (9.5 kg) on his potato a top speed of 200 mph (320 km/h) to launch record-breaking cooking marathon, Chef
diet, during the course of which he ate around a really fast food service to customers. Ben no Stewart cooked some 50 dishes­
1,200 potatoes in various guises- baked, including stews, casseroles, lam,.b shanks
boiled, fried, mashed and shredded. (;) K I N G KEBAB Leon Ekery of El Paso, Texas, and a pig on a spit-for 31 hours 31 m i n utes
prepared a lamb kebab that was 28 ft 7 in 55 seconds at the Bowen Show in Queensland,
(8.7 m) long. He used a 31-ft-long Australia, in J une 2011.
(9-4-m), one-piece stainless­
steel skewer, a 30-ft (;) V I NTAGE W I N E A 200-year-old bottle
(9.1-m) grill and of Chateau d'Yq uem white wine was sold to
more than French private collector Christian Vanneque
40 lb (18 kg) for over $115,000-the most ever paid for a
of lamb. bottle of white wine. Most white wines do
not age well, expiring in the bottle after just a
few years, but the 1811 Chateau d'Yq uem is an
exception because it is sweet. The buyer plans
to drink his expensive purchase in 2017
to celebrate his 50 years as a wine expert.
r:l SNAKE BLOOD After falling down a
79-ft-deep (24-m) pit in Changshan County,
Ch ina, while h unting snakes, Yi G uofang
survived for two days by killing one of the
snakes he had captured, dri nking its blood
and eating the flesh raw. W EVERYTH I NG MUST GO Yukako
Ichi kawa, a chef in Sydney, Australia, W COSTLY SMASH A forklift accident
W UN USUAL D R I N K A $250-million water­ gives a 30-percent discount to all customers smashed h undreds of bottles of Australian
recycling device aboard the International at her restaurant who eat everyth ing on wine worth a total of $1 million . All but
Space Station enables astronauts to drink their plate-excluding only lemon slices, one of the 462 cases of Mollydooker Wines'
their own urine. ginger and wasabi . Velvet Glove Shiraz bound for the U.S.A. was
destroyed. Each bottle sells for around $2oo.
£;1 LARGE F R I ES Five staff from the Fish and W E D I BLE TABLE Using 14 propane grills and
Chip Shop at the Adventure Island fun park 110 tables, volunteers at Crazy Otto's Empire W H OT DOG BET Jim Harrison, a 22-year-old
in Southend, England, cooked up the world's Diner in �erki mer, New York State, cooked a student at McMaster University, Ham i lton,
biggest portion of fries in J une 2011, weigh ing 2,128-sq-ft (197-sq-m) omelet from 41,040 eggs. Canada, won a $1,500 bet by eating 450 hot
in at 988 lb (448 kg). It took about four hours Using green food coloring, they turned it into dogs in a month-an average of 15 a day.
to peel, cut and fry the potatoes, which were an edible pool table with beach-ball billiards
then served in a box measuring 54 x 46 x 30 in and broomstick cues. £;1 PIZZA P I C KU P David Sch uler of Jackson,
(137 x 116 x 75 em). Mississippi, makes a round tri p of more than
£;1 EXPLOD I NG MELONS Thousands of 2,8oo m i (4,500 km)-just for pizza. Unable
W PIZZA PASS I O N There are more than watermelons exploded in China's Jiangsu to find a pizza to his taste in Mississippi, he
61,ooo pizzerias in the U.S.A. and Americans Province in the spring of 2011 after farmers drives through 16 states to the Town Spa Pizza
consume about 100 acres (40 ha) of pizza sprayed their crops too freely with chemicals in Stoughton, Massachusetts. On one trip he
every day, or 350 slices per second. designed to make the melons grow faster. bought 150 pizzas at a cost of $1,200.
 ...

FBIBI FBBil
Grilled, stewed or fried, a plate of duck
tongues is considered one of the most
luxurious snacks in ports of the For East.
Devotees of the dish soy it's the faint hint of
meat, the paper-thin layers of cartilage and
the pockets of fat that make the tongues so
delicious I The taste of the tongues, barely
2 in (5 em) long, is like no other duck meat, and the
texture is much more creamy. Those who need further
convincing might try this recipe for duck tongues-fried.

W R I CE C RAZY There are more than 40,ooo

different types of rice in the world. The Ch inese
alone eat 130 m illion tons of rice every year.

W ST I N K I N G B I S H O P After the highly

pungent Stin king Bishop cheese- made

(11 J ESUS IMAGE Toby Elles of Salford, England,

on a single farm in Gloucestershire, England­
was mentioned briefly in the 2005 Oscar­ W SAUSAGE AD D I CT David Harding from
winn ing an imated movie Wallace & Gromit: London, England, has spent nearly f2,ooo fell asleep wh ile frying bacon-and woke up
The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, demand for it on counseling and hypnosis to try to beat his to find a lifelike image of Jesus Christ, complete
rose by 500 percent. addiction for eating an average of 13 sausages with long hair and beard, burned into the pan.
a day. The 47-year-old has eaten at least one
sausage a day since he was five and spends W TOP DOG I n honor of National Hot Dog
up to £700 a year on sausages. Day, on July 23, 2011, the Brockton Rox baseball
team of Massach usetts created the world's
most expensive hot dog, selling for $8o. The
dog was deep fried and rolled in truffle oil,
then coated with porcini dust, sprin kled with
white truffle shavings, and topped with creme
fraiche, caviar and roe before being served in
a buckwheat blini roll.

During the holiday season in December 2011,

the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, California,
put on display a gingerbread house of epic
proportions. Constructed out of 7,500
home-baked gingerbread bricks and 1,200 lb
(544 kg) of royal icing, the 23-ft-high (7-m}
house was decorated with 650 Lb (295 kg) of
colorful candies and featured a special room
where children could write a letter to Santa­
with express delivery to the North Pole.

• • • • • • •
• • • • • •
 • • • 1• • • LI• • •

155�/tor Notr 2:
••

• • • w iW w • r 1. p 1 e y b o o k s • com
• •••c'

m MICRO BREWERY Bragdy Gwynant, a m TACO l i N E As part of the 2011 Phoenix

• •• • • • •
• • • • • •
r:l RED H OT C H i l l Chili grower Nick Woods •

of Grantham, England, has grown a new chili, brewery in Capel Bangor, Wales, is located in a Phestival in Oregon, a group of taco engineers
c
Infinity, with a heat that measures 1.17 million
on the Scoville Scale that grades chili heat.
former outhouse and is only 25 sq ft (2.3 sq m)
in size. It brews ale for just one customer-the
took just 15 m i n utes to build a line of tacos
measuring 177 ft (53.9 m) long.
c
That's 300 times hotter than Tabasco sauce, and Tynllidiart Arms inn next door.
'
so hot it carries a health warning. When he first r:l S H R IMP COCKTAi l More than 8o
tasted it raw, he was unable to speak or stand r:l PRICE OF BREAD At the height of chefs in Mazatlan, Mexico, joined forces to
up, shook uncontrollably and felt physically sick. Zim babwe's economic collapse in 2008, concoct the world's largest shrimp cocktail,

m VEGETABlE K I N G Gardener Peter

it cost 700 m i llion Zim babwean dollars to weighing 1,187 lb (538.5 kg). It was served in
buy a single loaf of bread. a dip containing 127 lb (58 kg) of ketchup and
Glazebrook from Notti nghamsh ire, England, 22 lb (10 kg) of lemon j uice.
set a new record for the world's heaviest onion
when he exhibited a monster weighing just r:l PERFECT P I E A £3,000 m i nce pie-the
under 18 lb (8.1 kg) at the Harrogate Flower most expensive in the world-went on display
Show in 2011. in London, England, in 2011. Made by chef
Andrew Stellitano from a 17th-century recipe,
[11 NONPRO F I T CAFE In 2010, the Panera the mince pie included high-grade plati num
Bread Company opened a nonprofit cafe in leaf, holy water from Lourdes to bind the
Clayton , Missouri , where customers just pay pastry, vanilla beans and cinnamon from
what they can afford and those who are unable Eastern spice markets, and ambergris sugar
to pay can volunteer their time. harvested from sperm whale secretions.

m RARE MAlT A rare 3-pt (1.5-l) bottle of r:l PR IZE PUFF At the 2011 Wisconsin State
single malt Scotch whisky sold for $46o,ooo Fair, a team of bakers created a cream puff
at auction in New York in November 2010. that weighed a whopping 125.6 lb (57 kg).
The 64-year-old Macallan malt had been The prize puff measured 71/2 in (19 em) h igh
bottled in a one-of-a-kind, handcrafted and 38 in (96 em) wide.
crystal lalique decanter.
SU PERMARKET
SU RPRISE
Tesco, the U . K.'s leading supermarket chain, is o pening
stores across C h i na, but the stock is a littl e different
from that usually fou n d on its shelves. Its store i n
Qingdao caters for local tastes b y selling s u c h items as
chicke n's feet, tu rtles, d ried sea-horse a nd whole d ried
lizard! Soaked i n a vat of rice wine, d ried lizard is said
to be a fortifying d ri n k.
 act ually o dev er\y
This slippery cust om er is
rto\eo of the High\o nd
constr ucted coke. Kor en Po
is o form er do� scu\�tor
Bakery in At\o nto , G eorgia,
e to\e nts to mcr edlb\e
who h as applied her creativ
y and tentodes of the
coke decorations. The bod
octo pus we re built with lay
�
ers of spo nge ca e before
fonda nt and mrbrushed.
bei ng sha ped, cover ed with
The spo nge gia nt weighed
200 \b (90 kg) and was
of being created .
devo ured within two d ays

m B I RT H DAY CAKE To celebrate Canada's

144th birthday on July 1, 2011, tp ree bakeries in
(:) C I CADA D ESSERT I n 2011, an ice-cream
shop in Columbia, Missouri, prepared cicada
ice cream-and sold out of it with in hours. Toronto, Ontario, joi ned forces to create a cake
Employees at Sparky's Homemade Ice Cream over 5 ft (1.5 m) tall, with 255 layers. The giant
collected the cicadas in their backyards and confection required 287 lb (130 kg) of sugar and
removed the wings. They then boiled the bugs copious amounts of eggs, flour and butter.
and coated them in brown sugar and m i lk
chocolate before adding them to the brown (:) OlD CAKE In 2010, J ustin Agrella of
sugar and butter ice-cream base. San leandro, California, discovered a steamer
trunk belonging to h is grandparents with
(:) COSTlY KEBAB Chef Andy Bates from a well-preserved piece of their 96-year-old
london, England, served up a £750 ($1,100) wedding cake i nside.

m l i ZARD l U N C H A lizard commonly eaten

kebab, made from expensive purple violet
potatoes, coeur de boeuf tomatoes, m i lk-fed
lamb, and a m int yogurt topping i nfused with in restaurants across southeast Vietnam is an
luxurious Krug champagne. all-female species unknown to science until
2010. Leiolepis ngovantrii, which reproduces
(:) C H OCOLATE TREE French itself by clon ing, was finally discovered on a
chocolatier Patrick Roger lunch buffet menu by scientists.

CH EESY created a chocolate Christmas

m MOUSE MENACE Shopping at a
O UTFITS
tree, 33-ft-high (1o-m) and
weighing more than four tons, supermarket in Birm i ngham, England, liz
in his Paris laboratory. Wray was horrified to see half a dozen live

m BUMPER B.l. T. In Kansas

baby mice fall out of a packet of potato chips
Spa U niversity, she had just picked up.
Engla nd, spent 1 ,000
City in 2011, volunteers
hours making five
assembled a bacon, lettuce (:) SQ U I D BOTTLE An l ka Tokkuri is a
d resses from a ton
and tomato sandwich that was Japanese liquor bottle that has been made
of ch eese. Their
209 ft (63.7 m) long. It took from an entire sun-dried squid. The cleaned
desi g ns i ncluded
14 people 42 minutes to and dried squid skin is often stuffed with rice or
shoes made of che ese
prepare the sandwich, using grain to help it form a bottle shape, and when
and dresses e ncrusted
with h eat-molded, 3,300 slices of bacon, seven sake is poured into it, the drin k absorbs the

scu plted C hedda r. cases of lettuce and 750 lb flavor of the squid. The bottle can be reused

• •
• •
(340 kg) of tomatoes. up to six times, after which it can be eaten!

• • • •• • •
• • • ••• •
II •
II .�� ••
•
 m SOAP EATER A rare and dangerous
r:.1 H EAVY CAKE A total of 100 workers medical condition left Tempestt Henderson,
W SALAD D RESS I N G To encourage Ch inese from Dairy Queen, Canada, spent 14 hours a teenage girl from Florida, addicted to
people to adopt a meat-free diet-meat in a Toronto, Ontario, sq uare in May 2011 eating soap. She used to go through five
consumption in the country has quadrupled assem bling an ice-cream cake that weighed bars of soap a week, as well as devouring
over the course of the last 40 years-actress more than 10 tons. The cake contained over washing powder daily and licking soap
Gao Yuanyuan wore a gown made of lettuce 2o,ooo lb (9,070 kg) of ice cream, 200 lb (91 kg) bubbles off her skin in the shower. Doctors
and cabbage leaves topped with a necklace of sponge cake, and 300 lb (136 kg) of icing and diagnosed her as suffering from pica, a
fash ioned from red chili peppers. Gao herself crumble. The gigantic dessert was created to condition that causes people to eat substances
had stopped eating meat after her pet dog celebrate the 30th bi rthday of Dairy Queen's with no nutritional value, such as chalk,
suffered food poisoning two years earlier. m uch-loved ice-cream cake. metal and sand.
 A PPL ES ARE
r:1 C U PCAKE K I N G Competitive
eater Tim " Eater X" Janus from New

25% AIR, WHICH IS

York City ate a record 42 cupcakes in
• 8 m i n utes at the Isle Waterloo World

WHY THEY FL OA l Cupcake Eating Cham pionship on

April 23, 2011. He has also eaten
W TW I NS RESTAURANT New 141 pieces of nigiri sushi in 6 minutes,
York City's Twins Restaurant is nearly 12 lb (5-4 kg) of burritos in
owned by identical twin sisters Lisa 10 m i n utes, and 7 lb 11 oz (3 .5 kg) of
and Debbie Ganz and is staffed by boneless buffalo wings in 12 minutes.

l:J ROYAL REBUFF In August 2011, the

37 sets of identical twins who work
the same sh ift in the same uniform.
Even the restaurant's business cards, King and Queen of Sweden were turned
doorknobs, light fittings, mirrors and away by a German restaurant owner who
bar stools are doubles. failed to recognize them. King Carl XVI

r!l PR I SON BAKERY A team of

G ustaf and Queen Silvia called at a
16th -century inn in Laden burg,
20 convicts at Rikers Island but proprietor Nadine
prison in New York bake Schellen berger was
36,ooo loaves of bread preoccupied with
a week-enough to feed a wedding reception
the prison's population of and told them there
13,000. The prison bakery was no table available. The royal
covers an area of 11,ooo sq ft (1,020 sq m). couple and their entourage instead went
out for a pizza on the market square.
[:J ROYAL BEAN When Wesley Hosie
;'
of Somerset, England, found a mango­ r:1 M I N I BAR As part of a car:npaign to
flavored jelly bean bearing what looked save their local pub, The Plough, residents
like an image of Kate Middleton, Duchess of Shepreth in Cambridgeshire, England,
of Cambridge-complete with long hair opened up a village telephone box to
and smile- he put it up for sale on eBay serve beer. The Dog and Bone was open
at a price of £515. for only one n ight, but in that time it
served about 70 customers.

l:J F U llY BOOKED A wall in Brushstroke,

r:1 P I N EAPPLE PAI N KI LLER Pineapple
is a natural painki ller. The fruit contains
enzymes that can reduce the inflammation a Japanese restaurant in New York City, is
associated with arthritis and in this way made from 12,ooo old paperback books.
bring pain relief.

l:J STU F F E D SH I RT On the U.S. TV show

£:1 B O I LED EGGS While on board the U.S.S.
Fitzgerald on August 13, 2011, Adrian Morgan
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on March 1, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, ate 20 hard-boiled
2011, George Booth stuffed a record eggs in 84 seconds-one every four seconds.
185 hot dogs into his T-shirt in 30 seconds.

r!l CH EESE PLATTER A cheese platter

W BEAN BARMY Although baked beans
originated in the U.S.A., the British are such
weigh ing 2.475 lb (1,125 kg) was placed fans of the food that each year they eat more
on show at the World Cheese Awards than 8oo m illion cans-three times more than
in Birmingham, England. The platter the rest of the world combined.
consisted of 139 different wedges, featuring
A model shows off a dress made of nori
cheeses from every country in Europe as well seaweed with a dead octopus necklace £:1 SPAM SAN DWICH An open sandwich
as from the Americas, Australasia and Africa. at a fashion food exhibition in Berlin, weighing 1,652 lb (750 kg)- including about
1,400 lb (635 kg) of Spam-was produced in
[:J SU PER SUSH I A restaurant in Aichi
Germany. After appearing on the catwalk, Fremont, Nebraska, in 2011.

l:J H I G H TEA In Los Angeles, California,

Prefecture, Japan, serves giant sushi rolls the designs were eaten. Other outflts
that are wrapped in 6 ft 6 in (2 m) of seaweed included a chocolate dress with a quails'
and rice. The rolls, which contain 20 foods a giant tea bag made from cheesecloth
and cost just under $200, must be preordered
egg necklace and a bacon suit topped was unveiled measuring 6 x 4 ft (1.8 x 1.2 m )
two days in advance. with a salad headdress. and weighing 151 lb (68.s kg).

.
. . . ·· = ··
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
I • • • • • • • • • •• • • • • • • • •
. .
•• •
•••• • • •• • • •• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• • • •• • • •• • • • •
 ·==��
=ii ll��ve It or Not!® IEm
• ••wlil w r� ·r i p l e y b o o k s . c o m WJ
• ••••Lu
• •• • • • • i

..,
• • • • • •
[;) DOUGH N UT DEL I VERY In 2011, fil DREAM CARS The interior of a restaurant r:J B I RTH DAY BASH On September 1, 2011,
Voodoo Doughnuts of Portland, Oregon, in Surabaya, Indonesia, allows customers a 48.6-gal (184-l} bottle of Jack Daniel's
0
to eat in converted classic cars. Dream Cars
made a record-breaking box of doughnuts,
weighing 666 lb (302 kg), measuring features a 1949 Mercedes Benz limo that has
Tennessee Whiskey was produced to celebrate
what would have been Jack Daniel's 161st
0
7 x 7 x 5 ft (2 x 2 x 1.5 m) and filled with been modified into a dining table that seats birthday. A bottle orchestra played "Happy C.
about 3,88o doughn uts. 20 people, and a 1962 Chevrolet Impala, which Birthday" on 475 bottles of Jack Daniel's whi le
has been transformed into a smaller table for fans of the liquor sent Jack a digital birthday
r:J G IANT BU RGER A ham burger and bun four. A 1961 brown Cadillac forms a seating card containing 1,075 individual greetings.
grilled at the 2011 Alameda County Fair, area, a 1959 yellow Lotus houses an organ and
Californ ia, by Brett Enright and N ick the restaurant's audio system, wh i le a 1969 red f:J DOUGH N U T BURGER The 2011 New York
- N icora weighed a staggering 777 lb (352 kg). Chevrolet Corvette has been converted into an State Fair at Syracuse unveiled the i,soo-calorie
It took 13 hours to cook and measured 5 ft aquarium holding 100 fish. Big Kahuna Donut Burger-a q uarter-pound
(1.5 m) in diameter and was 3 ft (90 em) th ick, burger, with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato
representing a whole cow's worth of beef. r:J F IS H Y TASTE Japanese scientists who and onion, in between slices of doughnut.
The cheese on top of the burger weighed conducted tests to determ i ne why red wine
so lb (22.7 kg), and was accompanied by should not be drunk with fish found that the
30 lb (13.6 kg) of lettuce, 20 lb (9 kg) of onions, greater amount of iron there is in a wine, the
12 lb (5-4 kg) of pickles, 10 lb (4.5 kg) of more likely it is to leave a fishy aftertaste when
m ustard and 10 lb (4.5 kg) of ketchup. The bun, consumed with seafood.
which took six hours to bake, weighed 272 lb
(123 kg} and was 28 in (70 em} thick. f:J FAST FOOD McDonald's restaurants feed
more than 64 million people a day-more
than the entire population of the U.K.

CUSTARD
_ CHAOS!
Competitors from a s far away
as Canada, Japa n, South
Africa and Germa ny travel to
Kent, Englan d, to ta ke part
in the a n n ual World C ustard
Pie Throwi ng C h a m pionships.
Points are award ed for throwi n g
pies squarely i nto opponents'
faces a n d also for the most
a m using and original throwi ng
techniques. The eve nt was fi·rst
held in 1 967 and was inspi red by
a Ch arlie Cha plin comedy movie.

•
 W LARGE GLASS An enormous wine

T O P B AN AN A
glass measuring 7 ft 10 in (2-4 m) h igh and
5 ft 5 in (1.6 m) in diameter was unveiled at

l pts gh o u rash
r-o ld J a pa n ese a wine festival in Bei rut, Lebanon, in October
do, o 23-y eo
Ke .as u k e Yo mo
fa ce s o ut of 2010. The giant goblet-shaped container was
ele ctrici a n, scu

�
e ats
h s th m a nd created by engineers Walid Richa and Moussa
n p hot o gro p
bo no no s, t he . t he U . K. 's
n o
1 , i n c ele b ratio
Zakharia from Plexiglas, and was only one­
the m . In 20 1

Pfm g to cr
m . usu al
has
.
he d evao t e d fro quarter full after having 100 bottles of wine
roy al we d d"m g, eat e bo no no
gri m ca rvi n gs b
y ott e
� •
d Kat e Mid d le
to n .
emptied into it.

p ran ee Wa 1 1 a o m on
·

lik e n ess es o f co u ple wo s

.
h at co rv m g th
e roy al £i1 PU B CRAWL A team of 13 people had a
Kei suk e said t
he rel ish ed . drink in 250 Man hattan bars and restaurants
o cha lle ng e
in 24 hours on September 3, 2011. One team
mem ber drank a half pint at each stop.

£i1 STRETC H SAUSAGE Chef Alberto Della W SAR D I N E CURE Patients in Hyderabad,
£i1 B URGER MI LESTONE I n May 2011, Pelle created a record-breaking 1,960-ft-long India, eat live sardines coated in masala to cure
Don Gorske of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, ate (597.8-m) sausage in the main street of Penne, their asthma. The treatment is adm inistered by
his 25,oooth Big Mac-39 years after eating Italy. Around 1,300 lb (590 kg) of meat was 200 members of the Goud family one day in
his first nine in a single day. He says the used to stuff the sausage skin, and the end J une each year, and several hundred thousand
burgers constitute 90 percent of his total product was sliced to fill 6,ooo sandwiches. people with respiratory problems line up to
solid food intake, addi ng: "I plan on eating eat the 2-in-long (s-cm) spicy fish, the recipe for
Big Macs till I die." W C H ESTN U T C HAMP On J uly 4, 2011, which is said to have been handed down by a
Joey Chestnut of San Jose, California, ate H indu saint.
£i1 DOG BEER Brewers in The Netherlands 62 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes to win
have devised an alcohol-free beer for dogs so the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in New £i1 ROBOT WA I TERS Samurar robot
. .,

that Man and his best friend can enjoy a beer York City for the fifth consecutive year. He waiters serve customers at the H aji_me
together. The Dog Beer is trains by fasting and by stretching his Restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand. Every
made from a special blend stomach with water, m i lk and protein 30 minutes the robot waiters stop
of beef extracts and malt. supplements. what they are doing and break into
a dance.

W RELIABLE REFRIGERATOR A General

Electric refrigerator bought in 1952 has enjoyed
some 6o years of contin uous use in the Oxford,
England, home of Doris Stogdale. The fridge­
bought for the equivalent of $2oo in today's
d fo od­
lo\w onese ch ef an
corv\ n g expe rt H
�
uang M ngbo
money-has never needed any mai ntenance
or even a single new part.

st\ c cu\ m ory "

sh ows off" h\s o rt\
r Motor cy de ,
u eot\ on lobste
obste r sh e\\ s,
mod e fro m flve \
ce , Ch\n o .
\n f u\\ on Pr ov\n
 1:1 RARE W I N E At a sale in Geneva,
1:1 COLOSSAL CORGI As part of the Switzerland, in November 2010, a rare
buildup to the 2011 royal wedding between large Imperial bottle of 1947 French
Prince William and Kate Middleton, British Cheval-Blanc white wine-equal to
cake designer Michelle Wi bowo created a eight standard bottles-was sold to a
giant cake in the shape of a royal corgi dog. private collector for $304,375. Labeled
The cake measured nearly 6 x 4 ft (1.8 x 1.2 m) "the greatest wine ever made," it is so
and weighed about 150 lb (68 kg). coveted that enthusiasts have traveled
thousands of miles to taste it.
• •
 W LAUGH I NG F I TS Pseudobulbar affect
(PBA) is a neurological condition in which
patients are unable to control sudden outbursts
of crying or laughter. Episodes can last for
several minutes, and a patient m ight laugh
uncontrollably even when angry or frustrated.

W LONGEST EARR I NG U.S.-based Romanian

jewelry designer Adrian Haiduc spent eight
months creating an earring that is almost
a th ird of a mile (o.s km) long. The world's
longest earring measures 1,550 ft (472 m)
in length and is made from crystals, pearls,
gemstones and beads, all strung on silk. It
features three strings-one worn in the hai r,
another form ing a necklace, and the th ird
hanging as a conventional earring.

£:1 FUNERAL CLOWN John Brady of

Drimnagh, Ireland, runs a funeral clown
company, Dead Happy Ireland, for people
W PEAK C O N D I T I O N A 4X4 vehicle was looking to put the "fun" into "funeral." The
abandoned near the top of the 3,560-ft-high company ad reads: "We bring squirting
{1,o8s-m) Mount Snowdon in Wales twice in flowers, we make balloon an imals. We can
a month in 2011. On the second occasion­ even fall into the grave if you want us to. Let
September 29-it had a "For Sale" sign your loved one go down with . a _s. mile."
attached to the windshield.
W MUMM I F I ED PASSENGER Unsure what
m I MPROPER ADDRESS Australian Thomas to do when her homeless friend died in her
John Collins was jailed in November 2010 for car, a Californian woman drove the partially
calling Magistrate Matthew Mclaughlin "mate" m um m ified corpse around for ten months.
twice during a hearing in Ipswich, Queensland. On investigating the car, police officers were
confronted with a foul stench and a leg poking
W WRONG WARRANT Police searched the out from under a blanket.
home of Rose and Walter Martin of Brooklyn,
New York, more than so times in eight years
owing to a computer error.

W TAL KI NG GARBAGE As part of the war on

litter, British councils introduced garbage bins
that say "thank you," applaud or even burp
when trash is dropped into them . In Sweden,
a talking bin received three times more trash
than a regular one nearby.

£:1 PLAST IC B I RDS Keen bird-watchers Ken £:1 WRONG S I D E A sen ior citizen from
and Fay Jackson spent an entire day observing Jena, Germany, who wanted to block off
two owls on the roof of an apartment block the entrance to his cellar, worked from the
opposite their home in Torquay, England­ wrong side of the new partition and ended
before realizing that the birds were made of up accidentally bricking h i mself into the cellar
plastic. The couple thought the reason the owls for several days.
had not moved at all during that time was
because they were stalking prey. W LUCKY LAN D I NG Five-year-old Ye Zixu
escaped with just scratches and bruises after
W FAS H I O N VICTIM Accused of shoplifting falling from the window of a tenth-floor
from a local store, Stephen Kirkbride turned up apartment in Chongq ing, Ch ina. Luckily, her
in court in Kendal, Cumbria, England, wearing 1oo-ft (3o- m ) fall was broken when she landed
the exact coat he denied steali ng. on a ground-floor awni ng.

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•
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 2 33

Brothers Hugh (left) and Antonio Fronds

from Esse� England, con pop their eyes
out of their s9ckets. Antonio, who has
been oble, to do ·this since childhood, has
demonstrated his eye-boggling skill on
Britain's Got Talent a nd in o musk video
for electropop .ad Hot Chip.
 K Y O UR
UP LO A D S
www . r ipleys - com/submit

J o s h u a C a rt e r f r o m L e e s b u rg ,
G e o rg i a , ca n t o u c h h i s
shoulders together in
front of his ches t , but
d o n ' t t ry t h i s y o u r s e l f .
J o s h u a wa s b o r n w i t h o u t
col l a rb o ne s , which means
t h a t he h a s hype rmobi l e , or
d o u b l e -j o i n t e d , s h o u l d e r s .
T h e c o l l a rb o n e n o rm a l ly
f o r m s a s t r u t b e twe e n
the shoulder blade and
t h e b re a s t b o n e , a n d i s
t h e o n ly l o n g b o n e i n t h e
body that lies horizontally.
H H a v i n g n o co l l a r b o n e s i s a n
advantage , " says Joshua ,
H i t h a s a l l owed m e t o fi t
i n t o s m a l l s p a ce s a n d wo r k
t h ro u g h a c rowd e a s i l y ! "

:•
G.l HARD LABOR In August W LEGO TOWER Over a period of.four days
2011, an 11-year-old boy in in April 2011, 6,ooo LEGO™ lovers joined forces
Aachen, Germany, called police to build a LEGO tower standing more than
to complain that his mother kept 102 ft (31 m) h igh in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The
making him do chores around tower, wh ich was composed of soo,ooo LEGO
the house during the school bricks, was stacked up with the help of a crane
summer holidays. and was held in place by wire supports to stop
it toppling over in the wi nd.
W FAM I LY TRAD I T I O N Four
generations of one fam ily have got W SEWER ORDEAL I n October 2010, Daniel
married on September 9-a tradition Collins of Collins, Missouri, fell into a sewer
stretching back more than a century. and was swept through more than a m ile
Angelynn Perchermeier was wed in (1.6 km) of pipe before he was rescued. After
Cincinnati, Oh io, on September 9, 2011 his safety line had become unhooked, the
-100 years to the day that her sheer force of the water pushed him along the
great-great-grandparents had 2-ft-wide (o.6-m) pipe, finally dumping him at
exchanged their vows. Her great­ the bottom of a 12-ft-deep (3.6-m) chamber.
grandparents and her grandparents also
chose September 9 for their weddings. G.l ARROW ATTAC K In 2011, New Zealander
Matthew Scheurich survived being shot with
W BUSY L I F E Ancentus Akuku of Kisumu, arrows in a remote jungle area of Papua New
Kenya, married more than 100 times and G uinea by a tribesman who wanted him dead
sired more than 160 chi ldren before his so that he could marry his French gi rlfriend.
death on October 3, 201o, aged 94. Scheurich sustained an arrow wound to the
stomach, which luckily stopped just short
W T I G H T SPOT Prisoner J uan Ramirez of his aorta (the body's most vital artery),
Tijerina tried to escape from a jail in and another to his right lung, and was pelted
Chetumal, Mexico, by packing h i mself into with rocks. He was airlifted to a small hospital
his girlfriend's suitcase. When suspicious where X-rays showed that his chest was
guards opened her bag, they found Ramirez half-fi lled with blood. He underwent an
curled up in the fetal position wearing only emergency transfusion to prevent h i m from
his underpants and socks. bleeding to death.

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• •• • • • •
• • • • • •
www . r ip l eybooks - com

W TR I PLE B LAST Sgt. Horace Weigart, a

::::1
U.S. soldier during the Mexican-American
War (1846-48), was h it by three cannon balls
�
Danielle Morgan, an 1 8-yea r-old
during the siege of Fort Texas. The first
�
student fro m the U niversity of Derby,
Eng land, had to be cut free by fi re wounded him, the second killed him and 0
crews after g etti ng her h ead tra pped the third later blew apart his grave site. ::
i nside a wire clotheshorse. After c.
she fe l l off her room mate's bed, the CD D U N G WATCH In 2010, a Swiss
clotheshorse la nded o n top of her watch making company produced a one­ ::::1
and her h ead went rig ht thro u g h of-a-kind $11,ooo wristwatch with a body
�
the fra me. made from a coprolite-a fossi lized piece -

m EMBARRASS I N G DAD Every morn ing for

-·
of dinosaur dung dating back 100 m i llion
�
......
GJ PREVI O US MEET I NG Married couple years. The watch's band is made from the
170 days of the Utah school year, Dale Price wore Suzanne and Alistair Cotton from Coventry, skin of an American black cane toad.
a different fancy-dress costume to wave his England, met and fell in love before they
16-year-old son off on the school bus from their discovered that they both suffered from the W L I TE-BR I TE MU RAL Over the course
home in American Fork. Rain Price had been same rare heart condition. It turned out that of 365 days, Rob Surette of North Andover,
em barrassed when Dale had waved goodbye 20 years earlier, in 1974, they had been in the Massachusetts, used 504,000 Ute-Brite toy
one day, so Dale decided to prolong the agony. same ward at the same hospital, where they pegs to create a huge mural measuring
He dressed as such characters as Batgirl, the had undergone the same operation, performed 10 x 20 ft (3 x 6 m) and weighing about
Little Mermaid, Princess Leia, Elvis Presley, Little by the same surgeon, on the same day. 1,750 lb (795 kg).
Red Riding Hood and Wonder Woman. On
another occasion, Dale dragged a porcelain toilet
onto the porch and sat on it reading a paper.
W C H R ISTMAS GLOOM Convicted of
assault in 2010, Dan iel Martz of Livi ngston, HAIR CAT
Montana, was sentenced to spend the next Veteri narians operati ng on a pet cat
W SCOTC H SC ULPTURE Un iversity of five Christmases in jail to stop him getting into in H u ntingdo n, Engla nd, were shocked
North Florida art student Cameron N unez trouble during the holidays. to discover what they thought was a
made a sculpture of a group of rock m usic fans tumor was actually a giant hairba l l-
entirely fro� Scotch tape. He went through r:1 DORITO TRI BUTE Following his death 5 in ( 1 3 em) lo ng, and the largest they
24 rolls of tape.�nd used himself as one of on September 20, 2011, Arch West, the man had eve r see n. Gemma the cat had
the casting models, wrapping a layer of tape who invented Doritos, was buried along with
swa llowed so m uch hair she could no
some of his beloved snack chips. Friends and
longer eat, and the fu rry ba l l i n her
sticky-side up around his head and arms before
sto mach wo u ld al most certainly have
rewrapping over that, sticky-side down, to relatives attending the service at a Dallas,
led to death had vets n ot intervened.
create a mold that was then removed with Texas, cemetery tossed Doritos around the
surgical scissors. burial box containing his ashes as a tribute.

• • • •
•
 r:J NO PANTS On Jan uary 9, 2011,
an estimated 3,500 comm uters
stripped down to their underwear
and boarded subway trains across
New York City for the tenth
ann ual No Pants Subway Ride.
The event has spread across the
globe with tens of thousands of
people taking part in so cities from
Adelaide to Zurich. A modest
band of 100 people rode the
London Underground; and in
Johannesburg, South Africa,
34 no-pants riders were arrested
for public indecency before being
released without charge.

W SHARK ATTAC K Kaiju Sushi

and Rice Balls, a restaurant
in New Smyrna Beach-the
Florida town dubbed the shark
attack capital of the world­
offers a free shark sushi roll
for anyone who has survived
being bitten by a shark . . . and
can prove it. TK� first customer
to take advantage of the deal
not only had a scar on his leg
but also a YouTube video
of himself on the local news
in 2008 being taken away
to the hospital.

r:J NOT SO OLD In July

2010, Japanese officials
went to congratulate Sogen
Kato on his 1nth birthday
for being the oldest man in
Tokyo but instead found his
mummified remains lying
in bed-where he had died
three decades earlier.

W H I D DEN LOBSTERS A shopper from Biloxi ,

Mississippi, was arrested for having two live
lobsters in his shorts. The man was accused of

An ultra-light plane hangs 33 ft trying to walk out of a grocery store without

paying for food items that he had stuffed down
( 1 0 m) above ground from a Ferris
his cargo shorts, including two bags of j umbo
wheel after crashing into it at a fair shrimp, a pork loin and the lobsters. Police said

near Taree, Australia. The pilot and he had tried to escape by throwing the pork at
store employees.
his passenger were trapped in the
plane for nearly three hours, but they W TREE BED A woman fell fast asleep curled
eventually walked away unhurt while up on the narrow branch of a tree 20 ft (6 m)
above the streets of Lanzhou, Ch ina. Shoppers
two children who were trapped on the
realized she was there only when one of her
ride at the time also escaped injury. shoes fell off and h it someone on the head.

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l eybooks . com
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W BAD D R I VER Gageen Preet Singh of W B U R I E D F I NGERS Playing near Paris, •

Surrey, England, was paid up to £Boo a time France, a seven-year-old schoolboy dug
�
�
by driving test candidates to take the test up a glass jar contai ning several well­
on their behalf-yet he himself was such preserved human fingers thought to
a bad driver that he repeatedly failed the belong to a local carpenter who lost four c
tests. Out of eight tests he was known to digits in an accident more than 30 years Il
•
have taken for clients, he failed five. To before. At the time the carpenter's fingers
carry out the illegal im personations, he could not be surgically reattached, so he
c
..
used an array of disguises, including fake put them in a jar full of alcohol and buried •

mustaches and wigs. them near his home.

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H EADSHOT H ERO Sergeant Paul
" Headshot" Boothroyd earned his nickname
after surviving a sniper's bullet to the
�
head wh i le serving in Helmand
A fake doctor, Oneal Ron Morris, was arrested
�
in Miami, Florida, on a charge of injecting
Province, Afghanistan, in March a woman's buttocks with a mixture of
0
2011. Just 15 minutes after being cement, tire sealant and superglue to give =
shot, he was smoking a cigarette her a more curvaceous appearance. According c.
and walking unaided to a military to detectives, Oneal (below) performed a
helicopter. Doctors say the similar procedure on herself. =
survival rate for being shot in the
�
head is only about one in 1o,ooo. -
-·

�
......

[:.1 H OTEL FALL Four-year-old Joey

Williams fell seven stories from a
hotel balcony in Miami, Florida,
but landed without breaking a single
bone. He hit several palm trees on
the way down.

[:.1 ATOMIC KITC H E N A man was

arrested in 2011 after attem pting to
split atoms in the kitchen of his home in
southern Sweden. He said it was simply a
hobby, but after creating a small meltdown
on his stove, he was arrested for unauthorized
[:.1 MED I CAL MESSAGE To ensure that she possession of nuclear material-radium,
does not endure a lingering death, 81-year­ americium and uran ium.
old grandmother Joy Tomkins from Norfolk,
England, has tattooed the words " Do Not [;] "MALE" MOM Jackie Kelly of Blountstown,
Resuscitate" across her chest. In case she Florida, was incorrectly listed as a male on her
collapses face down and paramedics miss the birth certificate and has officially been a male
big blue letters, she has also had " P.T.O." and since 1958-even though she has two children!
an arrow in ked on her back.
m CUTT I N G EDGE A $10o,ooo shaving
[:.1 MOH I CAN GAT H ER I NG 109 staff and razor has gone on sale featuring white sapphire
students gathered in a room at West Chesh ire blades that last forever and have an edge
College, England, on September 16, 2011-all less than 100 atoms wide-5,000 times
sporting Mohican haircuts. thi nner than the width of a hair. Designed by
a Portland, Oregon, company, the razor has
[:.1 WEIGHT ISSUES Believed to be one of a handle '!lade mainly from iridium, a metal
the fattest kids in the world, Suman Khatun derived almost enti rely from meteorites and
from West Bengal, India, weighed a staggering ten times rarer than platinum .
201 lb (91 kg) when she was just six years
old and 3 ft 5 in (1.03 m) tall-more than [:.1 COMBAT GNOMES Shawn Thorsson of
five times her recommended weight, and the Petaluma, California, has created a raAge of
same weight as a Great Dane. In an average Combat Garden Gnomes-regular gnomes
week, she ate 31 lb (14 kg) of rice, 18 lb (8 kg) wielding army rifles-which he sells online.
of potatoes, 18 lb (8 kg) of fish, and about The U.S. Naval Reserve officer claims he came
180 bananas, as well as assorted cream cakes up with the idea because he wanted a mi litary
and her favorite Bengali sweets. presence in h is garden .

. .. . . . . � . . .
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • •• .L '"' <'-"CT"-"'
W SO BOOT I F U L A penguin named W POLICE VULTU RES Police chiefs in Germany W BORDER CROSSI NGS Baarle-Hertog,
Bonaparte has fallen for a Wellington boot! hired three vultures-named Sherlock, Belgium, and Baarle-Nassau, the Netherlands,
The penguin named after the famous French Columbo and Miss Marple-to replace sniffer make up a single town with twisted borders.
emperor Napoleon has developed a romantic dogs in tne hope that the birds' amazing Walking only a few streets, it is possible to
attachment to his keeper's black-and-white eyesight, sense of smell and ability to locate cross national borders half a dozen times!
rubber boots (named in honor of the Duke of dead prey would help them to find m issing
Wellington, Napoleon's adversary at the 1815 bodies. However, the scheme was abandoned W COMPLEX C H OCOLATE U.S. scientists
Battle of Waterloo). He even fights to keep the after the disinterested vultures managed only to have discovered that humans are less
gumboots away from other penguins at his find a cadaver when it was placed immediately genetically complex than chocolate biscuits.
home in an aquarium in Germany. in front of their beaks. Humans have 20-25,000 genes, but cacao,
from which we make chocolate, has 35,000.
W STAMP STORAGE The U.S. Postal Service l:1 LEN T I L SPROUT A 4,ooo-year-old lentil seed
Stamp Fulfi llment Department maintains an found during a 2008 archeological excavation in
���"if·[�
underground vault with nearly $500 m illion­ Kutahya Province, Turkey, germinated
worth of postage stamps in storage. and sprouted the following year.

A phone booth in Osaka, Japan, was filled with h undreds

of goldfish in October 2011. The unusual aquarium was a
piece of street art designed to raise awareness of the
mass production of such fish in Japan.

was arrested in Chesterton, Indiana, after being

caught driving a golf cart wh i le drunk and in
the company of a large scarecrow.

W EXPLOD I NG TOILETS Two workers at a

federal building in Washington, D.C . , suffered
cuts after a plum bing malfunction caused
two toilets to explode and send tiny shards
of porcelain flying through the air. The 2,500
employees in the building were warned not to
use the bathrooms until the problem was fixed.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • • • • •
 • •
•
An adventurous fur seal pup gave the
a police station in Buffalo, New York State, on
::1
occupant of a house in Tourongo, New
April 26, 2011... while still wearing handcuffs. �
Zealand, a shock when it visited in December
201 1 . The seal hod mode its way from
When police rearrested him, they added a �
new charge for stealing the handcuffs he Cl
the nearby harbor, across a busy rood and was still wearing. ::
slipped through a cot flop, before making c.
itself comfortable on the couch for the night,
G R I Z ZLY B EAR CA N
TH E ::1
•

A S TH E
apparently not bothered by the resident cots
and dogs. As seals con give a nasty bite, RUN A S FA S T •
�
R S E.
-

AVERA GE H O
-·
o wildlife official was deployed to recover
�
the animal, and "lucky," as the seal was
.....
named after his traffic -dodging abilities, m SPACE C O I N S Characters from Star
was released bock into the sea. Wars, including Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker,
Princess Leia and Yoda, appear on a new set of
coins that are legal tender on the South Pacific
r:JFOX'S REVENGE A hunter in Belarus was r:JTWO F U N ERALS Romania's fattest man, island state of Niue. Produced by the New
shot in the leg by a fox in January 2011. As the 87o-lb (395-kg) Cristian Capatanescu, had Zealand mint, the NZ$1 and $2 coins have
man attempted to dub the fox to death with postmortem liposuction so that half of him Queen Elizabeth II on the reverse.
his rifle after shooting it, the animal's paw could be buried in a regular-sized
struck the trigger, firing the gun. coffin and the other half
cremated. His family asked
Cl SMELLY SI REN A Japanese smoke alarm for doctors to remove some
deaf people emits such a powerful smell that of his bulk because they
those asleep wake up within 2V2 minutes of couldn't afford an extra­
the stench hitting them. Instead of a shrill wail, large reinforced coffin.
the device releases the chemical compound
allyl isothiocya.nate, which is what gives Cl P I PE H OME Mao
horseradish, mustard and wasabi their bite. Li, 30, lived for a year
in a 6-ft-long (1.8-m)
concrete flood pipe beside

SNAKE INVADER
a bridge in Haikou, China.
Squeezing feet first into the
narrow opening, he installed
A gia nt Burmese Python captured i n
t h e F l orida Everglades i n October 201 1 a wood floor, a door, rugs
was one of the la rgest ever fo und i n and cushions.
t h e state. W h e n biolog ists perfo rmed
an auto psy o n the 1 5%-ft-long (4.8-m)
repti l e, they discovered a recently
swa llowed 76-lb (34-kg) ad u lt
deer, sti l l remarkably i ntact.
It was the largest prey
ever fou nd i nside a
Florida snake. As their
name sugg ests, Bu rmese
Pythons a re not native
to Florida-the wild
population, now in the _

tens of thousands, is thou

to have g rown from pet
.
snakes that escaped
in the 1 990s.
[;.1 MYSTERY D EATH An Irish coroner
ruled that a man who burned to
death in his home on December 22,
2010, died of spontaneous h uman
combustion. The totally burned body
A 72-year-old Nepalese man,
of Michael Faherty, 76, was found
lying face down near an open fire in unknown outside his remote
his living room in Galway, but coroner village until 201 2, has been
Dr. Ciaran Mclough lin ruled that the
nized as the world's
fire was not the cause of the fatal
blaze. The only damage was to the
man. Chandra Bahadur Dangi
body, the cei ling immediately above stands just 21 .5 in (54.6 em) tall
and the floor directly beneath.
and weighs only 32 1b ( 1 4.5 kg).
W PERFECT SYMMETRY Richard He is 5 in ( 1 3 em) shorter than his
Burton Vail of Ontario, Canada, had compatriot and previous record
birth and death dates that m irrored
holder, Khagendra Thapa Magar.
each other as a palindrome-11-12-20
and 02-21-11.

� STORED BOD I ES Jean Stevens

of Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, kept
her deceased husband's body in her
home for a decade-and her twin
sister's body for a year. When the authorities W SHELF L I F E Charles Jones J r. lived W 1 00-MPH COUCH A two-seater brown
found out, they agreed she could keep unnoticed in the basement of the Ocean leather couch, fitted with a mot9rcyde engine,
them if she built a separate building to Township Library, New Jersey, for nearly two docked a top speed of 101 mph (163 km/h)
store them in. weeks in 2010. at Camden Airport near Sydney, Australia,
in September 2011, making it the world's
W GUMMY H EART Los Angeles candy fastest sofa. Designed by Paul McKinnon
man David Klein invented an unusual new and driven by Glenn Suter, the superfast
line for Valentine's Day 2011-a 2-lb-8-oz sofa came complete with a coffee table to
(u-kg), throbbing, anatomically correct gummy help the contraption's aerodynam ics.
heart that oozed candy blood in 11 places. He
also marketed an edible bleeding nose and a [;.1 COF F I N BED Every Friday n ight since 1988,
gummy severed foot with a gangrenous toe. Zeli Rossi of Minas Gerais, Brazil, has traded
his bed for a coffin . Rossi and a friend struck
a deal many years ago that whoever died first

EXPENSIVE would have his coffin bought by the other.

Rossi's friend bought him a coffin when he

CRASH mistakenly thought Rossi had died in a 1983

car crash, so when the friend died five years
The C h ugoku Expressway i n later, Rossi started sleeping in the coffin to
Shimonoseki, J a pa n, was t h e scene honor his memory.
of one of the most expe n�ive and
excl usive car wrecks i n recent years.
W BAC K FROM T H E DEAD A morgue in
A tota l of 14 sports cars, including
Malatya Province, Turkey, has been built with
eight Ferraris, a Lamborghini and
a special motion-detecting alarm system-in
a Mercedes worth somethi n g
case "dead" bodies come back to life. If a
in the region of $ 1 . 3 million,
patient, declared dead by doctors, suddenly
were ca u g ht out on a drive to a
wakes up, the movement sets off an alarm in
supercar meeting in H i roshima.
It is tho u g ht the Ferra ri owners the mortuary's refrigerators, which also have

may have been d rivi ng too close doors that can be opened from the inside.
to one a n other when o ne d river
l ost control, leavi ng them little [;.1 WASH ROOM STOLEN In March 2011,
ti me to react before smashing thieves stole a 198-lb (9o-kg) gray-and-white
i nto each other and caree ning portable washroom from ski trails near Bognor,
i nto th e road barrier. Canada.

! !• -• • - ! - - -·-· • - - - -
• • • • • • • • • • • I
-- -- - --
• - •-
 • • • • •
• • • • •

W PARTI NG SHOT Alabama company [;] CAR PLU NGE Austrian teenagers J urgen W D I ED TWICE In Jan uary 2011, Pinnitla
�
Holy Smoke offers to ensure that deceased Oster and Felix Lemann escaped serious injury Varalakshmi of Andhra Pradesh, India,
gun-lovers go out with a bang by turning when their car plunged over the side of a Swiss was declared dead twice in 24 hours.
�
their ashes into amm unition that can be mountain pass and crashed 900 ft (274 m) to She awoke as she was being prepared for �
fired by relatives. the valley floor with such force that the vehicle her funeral, but then died for real shortly 0
folded in half. afterward. :::
[;] TAX B i ll In 2011, Martine Courtois c.
of Bruyeres, France, received a $16 land W MOON SUIT U.S. patent 3,139,622
inheritance tax bill in the name of her was issued in 1964 for an astronaut �
grandfather, Pierre Barotte, who died in 1949. moon suit. It had a large dish on
�
the helmet to reflect solar -
-·
W W I F E D U PED To be rid of his wife, a U.K. radiation away from the
�
-t.
imm igration officer secretly added her name astronaut.
to a list of suspected terrorists while she was in
Pakistan visiting her fami ly, mean ing that she [;] T PARTY
was unable to fly back to Britain for three years Students at
unti l his deception was uncovered. The truth Georgia Tech in
came out only when he applied for promotion Atlanta have been
at work and was asked about his wife being removing the letter
a terrorist. He confessed to the deception and ''T'' from signs all
was fired for gross misconduct. over the campus,
a prank that has
m BAD C H O I C E Stopped by traffic police cost the school
in Great Falls, Montana, a man who had three over $10o,ooo
outstanding warrants for his arrest gave officers in repairs. The
a false name-but finished up in custody tradition of
anyway because the name he gave was also stealing the ''T''
that of a wanted man ! off Tech Tower
began in the

woman from Paris ; France, survived being

W LOCKED I N :BATH ROOM A 69-year-old 196os, but has
.
spread to stadium
locked in the bathroom of her second-floor signs and even
apartment for three weeks after the door lock book bins in front
broke off in her hand. She tried to summon of the library.
help by banging on the wall with her shoe
night and day, but neighbors ignored the noise.

O LP H\H TATTO O
Heine Braeck, from Sarpsborg in Norway, lost
his right arm in an accident on a railway line
when he was a teenager, 20 years ago. Now, he
has decided to make an unusual feature of his
amputation by enlisting the help of tattoo artist
Valio Ska to paint over his shortened upper arm
so that it looks like a dolphin. Heine had always
thought his arm looked like a dolphin's head,
which is why he chose this animal for his tattoo.
 Page numbers in italic refer to arms Bardsley, Peter (U.K.) 48, 48 Bird, Andrew and Helen (U.K.) 122 bones (cont.)
illustrations armless and legless man u1, 121 Barker, Reg (U.K.) 27 Bird, Gill (U.K.) 59 ancient shark jawbone 36
armless baseball pitcher So Barker, Travis (U.S.A.) 185 birds in feet 239
Abba 189 armless woman m, m Barnum, P.T. (U.S.A.) 110 in armed border zone 70 fractured while sleepwalking 82
AC/DC 184 extra 106 Barnum & Bailey's Circus 56, 57, 121, Brad Pitt works for restaurant dressed jewelry made from 239, 239
Acre, Walter (Nor) 182 held above head 122 230, 230-1 as chicken 182 nun's bones found in luggage 245
acrobat, legless 107 length of span 107 Barotte, Pierre (Fra) 245 campground covered in droppings 53 boogers, large batt of 241, 241
actors Armstrong, Billy Joe (U.S.A.) 185 bars, marathon pub crawl 226 carnivorous plant eats 44, 44 books
agency for albino animals 63 Armstrong, ian (U.K.) 208 bji5ebatt cat mothers chicks 53 best setters 192
in record number of shows 188 Arnold, Salty (U.K.) 28, 28 armless pitcher 8o CD sculpture 211, 211 miniature autobiography 192
Adams, Bryan (Can) 170 arrow attack, man survives 234 birthday successes 85 dancing eagles 59 old banknote found in 192
Adler, Lior and Vardit (lsr) 173 Arthur, Alfred and Ellen (U.K.) 21 foul batt caught in popcorn bucket diving ability 58, 70, 70 randomly generated numbers 192
advertisements, most viewed online Aslam, Rumana (Pak) 18 172 dog's friendship with goose 6o store only stocks one title 192
176 Astley, Rick (U.S.A.) 168 mosaic made with baseball caps 146 drowned by oysters 6o valuable manuscript 181
Aguilera, Christina (U.S.A.) 184 Astor, Colonel John Jacob IV (U.S.A.) pierogi mascot fired 87 drunken owl 62 very old Bible found 192
air, sold on eBay 171 133 robot throws first pitch 87 dyed chicks 53, 53 wall of books in restaurant 224
Airhead, Bruce (Aus) 150 astronauts superstitions 83 elusive species photographed 151 Wikipedia articles 192, 192
airplanes drink urine 217 basketball emu lives in house 70 writing with lips 193
built in basement 126 relearning effects of gravity 16 superstitions 83 eyeless chicken 75, 75 Booth, Amanda (Aus) 69
collisions with alligators 53 suit patented 245 very high basket 8o fight with spurs 75 Booth, George (U.S.A.) 224
crashes into Ferris wheel 236, 236 Atherfotd, Lester (Nzl) 130 Bates, Andy (U.K.) 222 flamingo flock in shape of flamingo Boothroyd, Sergeant Paul "Headshot"
elderly wing walker 152 Atkinson, George (U.K.) 143 Bates, John (U.S.A.) 168 74 241
factory camouflaged 32, 32-3 Atlantic Ocean, crossing on a raft u6 bathroom, woman locked in for three friendship with dog 53 boots
fast flight on YouTube 172 Austen, Jane (U.K.) 181 weeks 244 imprint of owl on window 28, 28 freak accident 83
house as hangar 137, 137 Avery, Sean (Can) 211, 211 "Batmanning" 175 large collection of flamingo long curled toes 192, 192
man tries to smuggle snakes on 28 bats memorabilia 162 made like horses' hooves 182, 182
paper plane carries camera 130 Ba Desheng (Chn) 211 centipedes catch 73. 73 nest on cliffs 58 penguin falls in love with 242
paraplegic pilot 162 babies eating 214 orangutan rescues chick 176 bottle caps, very long chain of 142
pilot lets bomber escape 22 banned names 19 soup made from 227. 227 owl delivers ring 20 bottles
airport, motorized luggage cart runs born at same time 18 Bautista, Jeffrey (U.S.A.) 173 penguin falls in love with boot 242 boat made of plastic bottles 126
over cricketer 83 memorable birth dates 16, 21 Beard, Emily (U.K.) 26 plastic owls foot birdwatchers 232 Christmas tree made of 201
Aksyonov, Konstantin (Rus) 87 photos re-create movie scenes bears rooster kilts man 28 liquor bottle made from squid 222
Akuku, Ancentus (Ken) 234 186-7, 187 jar stuck on head 70 steep 61, 61 message in 19
Ataeddine, Matt (Can) 122 tail removed from 106 in movies 57 sunglasses stop roosters fighting 74 very large collection of milk bottles
Alakbarov, Rashad (Aze) 240, 240 tumor removed while in womb 106 polar bear's very tong swim 66 swan obsessed with tractor 53 150
alarm dock, with bacon smelt 16 Babu, Dr. Mohamed 72, 72 speed of grizzly bears 243 three-legged duck 57 Bowen, Melissa (U.K.) 20
Alberto, Carlos (Por) 130 Baburen, Dirck van (Nld) 200 swimming with polar bears 69, 69 traveling parrots 6o Bowles, Leslie (U.K.) 7, 7
albino animals, acting agency for bacon The Beatles vulture arrested for spying 6o bowling, Wii success 168
63 alarm dock uses smelt of 16 success of song 187 birth certificate boxing
album covers, replicated on pizza enormous B.L.T. 222 toilet tissue rejected by 18 mother described as male on 241 boxer breaks own nose 83
216, 216 bacteria Beaumont, Mark (U.K.) 162 without name 26 ear bitten off 83, 83
Alderman, Kevin (U.S.A.) 174 clothes made from 195 beavers, enormous dam 75 birthdays Bradley, Bobby (U.S.A.) 143
Alefs, Reginald (U.K.) 122 coloring feces 98, 98 beds, for cows 64 birth and death dates form Bradshaw, Julie (U.K.) 152
Alex, Vicki (U.K.) 106 make wounds glow blue 96 Beefheart, Captain (U.S.A.) 180 palindrome 244 Brady, John (Ire) 232
Alexander, Jane (U.K.) 102 on unwashed jeans 188 beer couple share same 26 Braeck, Heine (NorJ · 245, 245 ·

Alexander, Joe (Ger) 122 "bagelheads" 237, 237 for dogs 226 significant numbers 26 brain
Ali, Muhammad (U.S.A.), punch bag Bailey, Dave (U.K.) 152 fridge fires beer cans 168 Blacke, Thomas (U.S.A.) 143 Alien Hand Syndrome 96
portrait of 201, 201 Bailey, James Anthony (U.S.A.) 230 served from telephone box 224 bladder, eel in 108, 108 artificial 16
Atlali, Jennifer and Driss (U.K.) 16 Baillie, Allan (Aus) 122 very small brewery 219 Blair (Can) 104, 104 bullet found in 122
alligators Baines, Andrew (Aus) 208 wife-carrying contest 83 Blake, Sir Peter (U.K.) 150 changing bicycle gears with 136
airplanes collide with 53 baked beans, consumption of 224 beer-bottle labels, very large collection blindness eating goat brains 214
attacks dog 59 Balawing, Junrey (Phi) 120 of 143 auto mechanic 107 eating monkey brains 214
boy drags home 54 batt bearings, forcing out of tear ducts bees blind dog uses echolocation 74 foreign accent syndrome 122
in house 53 161, 161 escape from truck 72 eyeless chicken 75, 75 graduate without part of 120
police shoot garden ornament 20 Ballard, Robert (U.S.A.) 134 man wears bee suit 150, 150 seeing-eye dog for dogs 57 human brain-shaped candy 220, 220
Allsopp, Roger (U.K.) 152 balloons weight 75 sheepdog 54 painting after damage to 99
Aim, Niko (Aut) 238 dog flies with 67, 67 beetles blood branding
Almalki, Maged (Sau) 142 dog's balloon-popping ability 68 sculpture from 205 blood-scented perfume 181, 181 body 104, 104
alphabet, leg hairs form letters 106, fairy tales re-created with 203 very fast 72 lizard sprays jets of 72 as performance art 210
106-7 flying house 183, 183 beggar, invisible 18 multiple donations 112 Brandsness, Erik (U.S.A.) 53
Alvarado, Requelme Abanto 107 man inside 150, 150-1 Bejano, Emmitt (U.S.A.) 111, m painting with 210 bread
amnesia 99 very young pilot 143 Bekker, Hedda Bolgar (U.S.A.) 146 performance art with 210 prison bakery 224
Amorim, Paulo David (Bra) 112 balls Beliveau, Jean 146 performance artist injects horse toast portrait of Marilyn Monroe 202
Amos, Kelvin and Shane (U.K.) 152 catching with chopsticks 160 belt, enormous 48 plasma 2o8 very expensive 219
amputees 80-1, 80-1 giant batt of tinfoil 211 Benavides, Fernando (Spa) 205 popsides for tigers 68 wacky website 170
stump tattooed 245, 245 large batt of boogers 241, 241 Bennett, Maurice (Nzl) 202 ticks 119, 119 breasts
Anastasia IV (Pol) 23-5, 23-5 large batt of chewed gum 8, 8 Benson, Lance (U.S.A.) 8o Blossom, Nick (U.S.A.) 113 enormous 102, 102
Anderson, Mary (U.S.A.) 170 large batt of copper wire 150 Berger, Michael (Ger) 152 B.L.T., enormous 222 implants for elderly woman 112
Andre, Aelita (Aus) 200 leather for 8o Berry, Halle (U.S.A.) 202 boats and ships breathing, through ears 103
Andrew, George Lee (U.S.A.) 188 of rubber bands 141, 141 Berthier, Julien (Fra) 126, 126 floats at unusual angle 126, 126 Bresland, Noel (U.K.) 161
Andrews, Micah (U.S.A.) 122 Baltimore, new Ripley's museum 7, 7 Besau, Han (Mal) 68 made of cardboard 40 brewery, very small 219
anesthetics, effects of 177. 177 Bana, Tchanile (Tgo) 87 Beser, Tom (Ger) 63 made of milk cartons 143 bridges
Angry Birds 174-5, 174-5 bananas Beyonce (U.S.A.) 170, 170 made of plastic bottles 126 for dormice 72
animals gorilla mascot' attacked by 19 Bharati, Sadhu Amar (lnd) 122 pumpkin race 34 heavy truck falls through 131
on Internet social networks 173 music to ripen 195 Bias, Ezra (U.S.A.) 113 rowing to North Pole 162 living 34, 34
kinetic 205 sculpture 226, 226 Bibby, Jackie (U.S.A.) 142 shark jumps into 86 very long 38
taxidermy 200, 200 banjo, giant 182 Bible, very old copy found 192 survives tsunami 36 Brooksbank-Jones, Rhiannon (U.K.)
Voodoo 46 bank robbers bicycles Titanic 132-5, 132-5 102
Antarctica, human waste removed corpse found in chimney 239 bunny-hopping up stairs 141 toothpick model of Queen Mary 200 Broomhead, Tony (U.K.) 201
from 120 escapes on crutches 26 changing gear with brain 136 body piercings Brown, Arthur (U.K.) 185
Antes, Chris (U.S.A.) 216, 216 wants medical treatment 239 Christmas tree made of 201 bride's face covered in 21, 21 Brown, Benjamin (U.S.A.) 227. 227
antlers, elk statue made of 205 in wheelchair 23 cycling across Canada 142 corset piercing 123, 123 Brown, Charlie (U.S.A.) 22
Antonson, Adrienne (U.S.A.) 120 banknotes cycling across desert 127 festival of 42-3, 43 Brown, Margaret (U.S.A.) 134
ants bank leaves behind 16 extreme marathon on 82 multiple 105 Brown, Mittie (U.K.) 205-7, 205-7
change color 72, 72 burning as art project 180 pogo hops on back wheel 143 Vampire Woman 99-101, 99-101 Browne, Dave (Ire) 182
clones 72 found in old book 192 riding upside down 239, 239 bodyboarders, large gathering of 87 Bryar, Bob (U.S.A.) 185
marching in circles 72 shredded notes reassembled 20 triple backflip on 90 bodybuilder, grandmother as 84, 84 bubble, very large 160
apples, floating 224 very large collection of 161 very long journey on 38-9, 39 bog snorkeling contest 83 bubble wrap
apps, Ripley's 11 worthless bills 18 Bieber, Justin (Can) 175 Boggs, Wade (U.S.A.) 83 appreciation day 42
aquariums banks Biggins, Joe (U.S.A.) 190 Boland, Brian (U.S.A.) 201 wedding dress 188
telephone booth as 242, 242 centenarian's account 19 Bin Laden, Osama (Sau) 102, 170 Bolt, Nate (U.S.A.) 172 Buchholz, Rolf (Ger) 105
very small 209 recorded voice in 26 Bindman, Amy (Can) 6o Bond, Aaron (U.K.) 172 Buffington, James (U.S.A.) 141
Arad, Ron (lsr) 211 Barclay, Will (U.S.A.) 87 bioluminescence 41 bones buildings
armpit serenades 88, 88, 89 Bard, Steve (U.S.A.) 154-9, 159 Birbeck, James (Can) 205 ancient bones found in garden 109 climbing skyscrapers 146-7, 146-7

• • •• • • • • • • ••
· ·· - � -�- ··- · '- .. . � . . __ ,.,.,. _!_! _,. _, ' - •• • ! • • - �· �·�· -· • ••
• • • • • • • • • •• • • • •• • • •
•• • • • • • • • •• • •• • •• •
• • •
 •• • •
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• ••••

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=�iflelieve It or Not!®�
••• wlil w . r i p l e y b o o k s . c o m
•• • •
I:IJ.I
• •• -. • •
buildings (cont.) cars (cont.) centenarians (cont.) climbers

• • • • •
movie filmed in tallest building 182 driving under truck 136, 136 fitness fanatic 85 climbing mountain
toddler survives fall from high 107 elevator-style parking 137, 137 party at bank 19 every day 151
Bulinya, Gladys (Ken) 120 skydiver 141
•
falls into swimming pool 129, 129 legless climber 8o
-
bullets falls onto house roof 128, 128 centipedes, catch bats 73, 73 one-handed 106
cremation ashes turned into 245
dentures deflect 109
4X4 vehicle abandoned on mountain
232
chairs, Christmas tree made of 201
Chalk, Dale (Aus) 106
very young 143
with prosthetic leg 162
countries
loses independence document 42 ::
found in brain 122
found in head 107, 109
full-size cake model 223
giant shoe as 127
Chatom, Josh (Can) 204
Chana, Ziona (lnd) 14-15, 14-15
with washing machine on back 152,
152
unrecognized 40
Courtois, Martine (Fra) 245
c.
jewelry made from 202
man spits out 109
human crash-test dummy 26-7, 27
imposter takes driving tests 237
chapels, in hollow tree 36, 36
Chappell, Barry (U.S.A.) 8, 8
clock, alarm clock with bacon smell 16
clothes
cows
beds for 64
�
man unaware of being hit by 112 insect sculptures from 211 Chavez, Herbert (Phi) 187, 187 bubble wrap wedding dress 188
dress made from parachute 181
boy suckles 34, 34
calf with very long tail 64, 64
)(
ricochets off tooth 108 jumping across long gap 160 cheese
surviving being shot in head 241 knitted Ferrari 9, 9 banned from Paris Metro 220 dress made of cow nipples 188, 188 dress made of cow nipples 188, 188
bulls, jump into sea 41, 41 large number of people in 130 dresses made of 222, 222 dress made of hair 195, 195 head stuck in ladder 70
bungee jumps, multiple 141 LEGO® model 205 giant platter of 224 dress made of meat 180, 180 jumping fences on 66
Bunnell, George B. (U.S.A.) 110 lucky escape from crash 245 gold leaf in 221 dress made of vegetables 223 performance art in the sea 208
Burbure, Rajesh (lnd) 195 man jumps over speeding 176, 176 medicinal uses 85 dresses made of cheese 222, 222 produces "human" milk 16
Burfoot, Jeremy (Nzl) 85 Mini covered in crystals 9, 9 sandwich sold on eBay 170 enormous T-shirt 161 stand-up comic performs to 180
burgers parked in living room 130 very popular 218 fashion show for rats 74 very small 64
doughnut burger 225 "Popemobile" 130 very smelly 218, 220 Kermit the Frog coat 195 wacky website 170
· Craft, Caitlin (U.S.A.) 88, 88
eating every day 226 pulling with stomach muscles 109 Chen Daorong (Chn) 122 made from bacteria 195
giant 225 reduced in size 130 Chen Kecai (Chn) 146 seaweed dress 224, 224 crane, sleepwalker found on 208
burglars reindeer cause crashes 62 Chen Nong (Chn) 63 unwashed jeans 188 Cranmer, Thomas (U.K.) 211
child solves burglary 26 restaurant customers eat in 225 Chen Wei-yih (Twn) 22 wedding dresses made of candy crash helmets, unusual designs 22-3, 23
mistake cremation ashes for cocaine rhyming defense for speeding 22 Chen Zhu (Chn) 45, 45 193. 193 crater, filled with burning gas 38
239 road collapses 129, 129 cherry pit spitting contest 83 clotheshorse, woman trapped in 235, Crathern, Lewis (U.K.) 86
tattoo gives away 23 robot-driven 17 chess, playing multiple games 235 crawling, long distance 143
Burgos, Victor (U.S.A.) 168 rocket-powered model 150 simultaneously 85 clouds cream puff, enormous 219
Burson, Dr. John (U.S.A.) 143 runaway truck stopped by 130 Chestnut, Joey (U.S.A.) 226 hand-shaped 40, 40 credit cards, sculpture from 209, 209
buses runs over TV presenter 189 chewing gum lenticular 28, 28 cremation ashes
driver runs over snowman 176 statue of man directing traffic 136 large collection of 162 in shape of Roman god 177 fired from cannon 28
first driving ban 136 stuck in cement 128, 128 sculpting in mouth 216, 216 clowns, for funerals 232 mistaken for cocaine 239
marriage proposal on display sign 127 tank drives over 130, 130 used piece sold on eBay 171 coats sprinkled around world 22
water as calming device 130 transported on tricycle 127, 127 chickens Kermit the Frog 195 in tattoo 122
Bush, George W. (U.S.A.) 151 in van 130, 130 Brad Pitt works for restaurant dressed shoplifter wears stolen coat at trial turned into ammunition 245
Butler, Karen (U.S.A.) 122 very expensive crash 127, 244, 244 as 182 232 cricket, very high score 8o
butter, sculpture 214 very low 136 dyed chicks 53, 53 Cobain, Kurt (U.S.A.) 184 crickets, defenses 72
butterflies, huge 61 very small parking place 136 eyeless 75, 75 Cobb family (U.S.A.) 63 (rills, Kathryn (U.S.A.) 105
buttocks, injected with cement 241, 241 welded to motorcycle 130 fighting cock kills owner 239 cocaine, burglars mistake cremation Cristerna, Maria Jose (Mex) 11, 11,
buzkashi 90-1, 91 woman run over twice 112 rooster kills man 28 ashes for 239 99-101, 99-101
Byrne, Karen (U.S.A.) 96 wreck in coffee table 136, 136 sunglasses stop roosters fighting 74 codpiece, exploding 185 crochet, cars covered in 201, 201
Carter, Billy (U.S.A.) 133 Chihuahuas coffins crocodiles
cabbage, skull carved out of 215, 215 Carter, Joshua (U.S.A.) 234, 234 as police dog 68 liposuction for fat corpse 243 cell phone rings in stomach 168
cafe, nonprofit 219 Caruso, Daniel (U.S.A.) 83 intimidates robbers 6o president's coffin hidden 107 enormous 54, 54-5
Cairo, Jose Castelar "Cueto" (Cub) 161 Carville, Simon (Aus) 169 Childers, Michelle (U.S.A.) 113 races in 83 escapes from photographer 64
cakes Casarez, Matt and Mike (U.S.A.) 220 chilis sleeping in 245 getting close to 52, 52
Angry Birds game 175, 175 Case, Rachel Betty (U.S.A.) 112, 112 clearing party with 186 coins in swimming pool 62
corgi-shaped cake for royal wedding Cassini, Martin (U.K.) 22 very hot 219 collecting dropped 162 turns orange 64, 64
227 Castelbajac, Jean-Charles (Fra) 195 Chilman, Brett (Aus) 187 giant coin made from pennies 203 wrestling with 36
giant ice,cream cake. 223 Castellanos, Isaiah (U.S.A.) 173 chimney, corpse found in 239 on painting 42 crown, burning 185
octopus-shaped 22i; ,?-22 caterpillar fungus, eating mummified chimpanzees production of 22 crows, use cars to crack nuts 63
tower of cupcakes 221 220 large vocabulary 57 regurgitating 162, 162 Cruise, Tom (U.S.A.), films at top of
unusual designs 223 catfish, eats wood 69 paintings by 57 Star Wars characters on 243 tallest building 182
very long yule log 221 cats smoking 57 very large gold coin 163 crutches, bank robber escapes on 26
very old 222 adopts squirrel 63 chin, carrying weights on 160, 160 Cole, Louis (U.K.) 11, 11, 94-5, 94-5 "crying marriages" 41
very tall 222 detects epileptic fits 54 chinchillas, very dense fur 68 collarbone, man without 234, 234 Crypt of Civilization 44
calligraphy, giant 211 giant hairball in stomach 235, 235 chocolate college Cunningham, Kane (U.K.) 209
camels, jumping over 81 in glass jar 58, 58 genetics 242 elderly graduates 150, 152 cupcakes
cameras kitten stows away in shipping giant bar of 220 rock star gets doctorate 187 speed-eating 224
large collection of 203 container 6o giant Christmas tree 222 Collins, Daniel (U.S.A.) 234 tower of 221
in mouth 18, 18-19 mothers chicks 53 chopsticks Collins, Thomas John (Aus) 232 Curry, Michael (U.S.A.) 16
on paper plane 130 mourning death of 245 catching balls with 160 coma curtain, of silicon rods 211
very small18, 18 rescue center for 61 shortages in China 220 math wakes girl 106 custard pie throwing contest 225, 225
camouflage rescued from well112 tree sculpture 208 speaking foreign language after 106 cysts, enormous 102, 108
factory 32, 32-3 summoned for jury service 54 Chou, Alex (Twn) 126 comic books, large collection of 187
geckos 75, 75 survives in washing machine 61 Christie, Chris (U.S.A.) 192 computer-generated images, in movie Dai Geng (Chn) 200
Campbell, Elsie (U.K.) 214 two-faced 65, 65 Christmas lights, electric eel powers 182 Dai Guohong (Chn) 81
Campbell, Steve (U.K.) 142 very long 53 68 Comrie, Graham (U.K.) 26 dam, beavers build enormous 75
candy very short legs 6o Christmas trees Connellan, Martin (U.K.) 238 dance
human brain-shaped 220, 220 wacky website 170 enormous 34 Connolly, Kevin (U.S.A.) 8o dancing gorilla 176, 176
motorcycle made from 7. 7 on YouTube 174 giant chocolate 222 Connors, Chuck (U.S.A.) 82 elderly dancer 183
realistic gummy heart 245 with five ears 64 jewel-encrusted decorations 41 constitution, longest and shortest 48 mass Macarena 195
cannonballs, soldier hit three times 235 Cauty, Jimmy (U.K.) 180 made of unusual items 201, 202 Conto, Lovetta (Lib) 202 mass Twist 193
cardboard, boats made of 40 Cavendish, Mark (U.K.) 82 Chubb, Philip (U.K.) 68 contortionists 122, 234, 234 with flamethrowers 210
cards, underwater game 141 caves Churchill, Winston (U.K.) 204 cooking Dangi, Chandra Bahadur (Nep) 245, 245
Carish, Curt (U.S.A.) 70 enormous 45 cicada ice cream 222 marathon 216 Daniel, Jack (U.S.A.) 225
Carl XVI, King of Sweden 224 school in 35 cigar, enormous 161 while sleepwalking 208 Daniele, Guido (Ita) 204, 204
Carlin, Eric (U.S.A.) 90 skull formation in 48, 48 cigar boxes, guitars made of 183 Cooper, Mike and Ben (U.K.) 175, 175 Dasher, Michael (U.S.A.) 54
carrots, dancing carrots in marriage wedding in 28 cigarettes, chimpanzee smokes 57 Cooper, Nathan (U.K.) 54 DaSilva, Will (U.S.A.) 58, 58-9
proposal 26 CDs, sculpture from 211, 211 circles, drawing freehand 202 Corliss, Jeb (U.S.A.) 163 D'Aubney, George (U.K.) 223
cars cell phones cities Cormie, Graham (U.K.) 26 Davidson, Craig (U.S.A.) 162
anti-speeding campaign 38 rings in crocodile's stomach 168 below sea-level 45 corn, silo collapses 34 Davidson, Elaine (U.K.) 21, 21
blind mechanic 107 scented 172 enclosed by state 45 corpses Davidson, Leeland (U.S.A.) 19
brick model of 200 strange apps 171 model made from staples 209 in car 232 Davis, Geena (U.S.A.) 82
changes appearance 174-5, 175 wolves scared off by heavy metal Clark, Margaret (U.S.A.) 26, 27 displayed in funeral home 105 Davis, Mac (U.S.A.) 89
child drives 136 music on 182 Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt 44 corset piercing 123, 123 Davis, Walter (U.S.A.) 108
corpse in 232 see also iPhones cliffs cosmetic surgery De Angelis, Elena (Ita) 234, 234
covered in crochet 201, 201 cellar, man bricks himself into 232 base-jumping off 152 facelifts for dogs 69 deaf people
crashes into insurance office 26 cemeteries dog and owner survive fall 59 pointy ears 105, 105, 108 rapper 192
crows use to crack nuts 63 very small 35 film of house falling over 209 to look like Superman 187, 187 smoke alarm for 243
dandelion-rubber tires 16 wedding in 22 freeclimbing 162, 162 Cotton, Suzanne and Alistair (U.K.) Dean, Hezi (lsr) 141
destroyed in showroom 19 centenarians geese nest on 58 235 Dean, Millvina (U.K.) 132
driven down stairs 129, 129 continues working 146 suicides prevented 239 couch, motorized 244 Dearsley, Lowri (U.K.) 18

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • I
· . . --•- .. · · • ! · . . • - •- •• · · • • · . .
• •
 death dogs (cont.) eggs (cont.) Fan Ming (Chn) 221 flags
alarm system for morgue 244 as wine tester 66 enormous omelet 217 fancy dress, father wears every day 235 city below sea-level 45
birth and death dates form with four ears 70 multiple double-yolked 216 Farek, Gladys (U.S.A.) 223 free 42
palindrome 244 dolphins one-armed push-ups on 160, 160 Farmica, Cancetto (U.S.A.) 105 flamethrowers
corpse displayed in funeral home 105 amputation stump tattoo 245, 245 speed-eating 224 Farnsworth, Bill and Cindy (U.S.A.) 192 dancing with 210
corpse found after 30 years 236 sounds turned into artworks 208 Einstein, Albert (Ger) 10, 10 Fast, Kevin and Jacob (U.S.A.) 163, 163 trombone as 173
corpse in car 232 ultrasound scan for pregnancy 54 Ekery, Leon (U.S.A.) 216 Favre, Brett (U.S.A.) 8o flamingos
drive-thru mortuary 45 "walk" on tails 59 elbow, concrete blocks broken with 122 feces, coloring with bacteria 98, 98 flamingo-shaped flock of 74
fingers cut off mourners' hands Donato, Joseph (Can) 151 �lchiyev, Etibar (Geo) 106, 106 feet large collection of memorabilia 162
49. 49 Dong Changsheng (Chn) 161, 161 elections ancient prosthetic toes 96 Flickr 166, 166-7
husband's body kept at home 244 Door to Hell, Turkmenistan 38 huge number of votes cast 48 bones 239 flies, very rare 74
man wakes up in morgue 238 Doritos, inventor's funeral 235 no candidates for mayor 48 carving with 205 Flitton, Andy (U.K.) 16
spontaneous human combustion 244 Dou Xianhui (Chn) 69 electricity dextrous toes 122 floods, exploding manhole 127
unlucky number for rock stars 184 doughnuts brightening up junction boxes 201 dog eats toes 96 flowers
valuable corpse 122 doughnut burger 225 electric eel powers Christmas lights extra toes 120 huge number of roses bought for
woman dies twice 245 giant box of 225 68 painting with toes 203 wedding 19
woman wakes up at own funeral 99 Douglas, Brent 173, 173 electrical poles chopped down as call parasites 118, 118, 119, 119 wedding shoes decorated with 182
Death Valley, extreme marathon in 82 Down, Phil (Aus) 38 for help 22 severed foot re-attached 104 fluorescent lights, fighting with 78-9,
deer, in python's stomach 243, 243 Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan (U.K.) 82 generated by windmill made from on Statue of Liberty 28 79
Della Pelle, Alberto (Ita) 226 Draper, Nicola (U.K.) 175 junk 36 toe transplanted to hand 96, 96 Followill, Ivan (U.S.A.) 186
Delstanche, Mark (U.K.) 162 drawings man survives shock 122 two-toed tribe 23 Followill brothers (U.S.A.) 186
Deng Rui (Chn) 112 freehand circles 202 "Elephant Man" (U.K.) 114-17, 115-17 very long toenails 107, 107 food
dentistry, effects of anesthetic 177, 177 human spirograph 209 elephants writing with m, m cooking marathon 216
dentures, deflect bullet 109 on Post-it Notes 205 drinks water from hot tubs 55 Feng Fujia (Chn) 108, 108 iPhone covers 172, 172
deserts while sleepwalking 208, 208 enormous 57 Fernandez, Emilio (Mex) 186 painting every meal 2oo
cycling across 127 dresses orchestra 193 Ferrato, Joseph (U.S.A.) 122 sold on eBay 170, 171
extreme marathon in 82 bubble wrap wedding dress 188 Elizabeth II, Queen of England, on very Ferris wheel, airplane crashes into speed-eating 224, 226
DeVore, David (U.S.A.) 177, 177 made from parachute 181 large gold coin 163 236, 236 wacky websites 170
Dey, Grant (Nzl) 104 made of cheese 222, 222 Elles, Toby (U.K.) 218 Fessler, Travis (U.S.A.) 142 football
Dhanani, Mohammed Farooque (lnd) made of cow nipples 188, 188 e-mails 50 Cent 184 accident rate 86
161 made of hair 195, 195 numbers sent 166 fingernails leather for balls 8o
diamonds made of meat 180, 180 sending while sleepwalking 208 movie scenes painted on 189, 189 legless player 80-1, 81
football player loses earrings 85 made of vegetables 223 embroidery, very large 205 portrait painted on 204 mascots in brawl 176
planet made of 16 seaweed 224, 224 emergency call, child makes 108 fingers player loses diamond earrings 85
smuggled in stomach 20 wedding dresses made of candy Eminem (U.S.A.) 185 bionic 104 player sent off for mohawk 8o
thief swallows 112 193. 193 emu, lives in house 70 extra 120 playing on unicycles 85
DiCaprio, Leonardo (U.S.A.) 189 driftwood, museum of 34 England, Stephen (U.S.A.) 86 found in jar 237 team with multiple uniforms 8o
Dickinson, Bruce (U.K.) 82 drinking straws, in mouth 142, 142 engraving, minuscule 200 handstands on one 109 Forbes, Sean (U.S.A.) 192
Diesel, Vin (U.S.A.) 136 driving license, pasta strainer in photo Enright, Brett (U.S.A.) 225 mourners cut off 49, 49 Ford, Gerald (U.S.A.) 189
dime museums 110-11, 110-11 238 Eross, Zsolt (Hun) 162 new tip grown on stomach 109, 109 forged painting 200
dinosaur, wooden sculpture of 201 driving tests, imposter takes 237 escapologists 143, 152 wedding ring causes loss of 83 fork, as Devil's tool 214
Diogo, Paulo (Swi) 83 Drummond, Bill (U.K.) 180 Esposito, Anna (U.S.A.) 54 Fiore, Rosemarie (U.S.A.) 210, 210 Forsyth, Andrew (U.K.) 59, 59
disease, detecting with colored feces ducks Evelyn Evelyn (U.S.A.) 194. 194 fire Fortin, Rick (U.S.A.) 150
98, 98 eating duck tongues 218, 218 Everest, Mount, very young climber arsonist has flame tattoos 104 fossil dung, watch case made from 235
Dive, James (Aus) 211 haunted rubber duck sold on eBay 143 burning grass in sky 41 Foust, Tanner (U.S.A.) 160
diving 171 La Excelencia 187 dancing with flamethrowers 210 foxes
birds' ability 58, 70, 70 long line of rubber ducks 160 exorcists, congress of 238 fire-breathing 184 living in skyscraper 57
fisherman catches diver 87 three-legged 57 explosion, rights sold on eBay 170 hazards for rock musicians 184-5 shoots hunter 243
long stay underwater 162 duct tape, festival of 36 eyebrows, mourners shave off 245 horse rider on fire 35, 35 Foxx, Russ (Can) 105, 105
underwater card game 141 Dugas, Aevin (U.S.A.) 120, 120 eyes Michael Jackson's hair catches fire Francis, Hugh and Antonio (U.K.)
dogs dummies, as movie extras 190-1, cross-eyed lion 57 184 233. 233
adopts lynx kitten 70 190-1 eyeless chicken 75, 75 spontaneous human combustion Franklin, Trevor (Nzl) 83
alligator attacks 59 dung, watch case made from fossil 235 forcing ball bearings out of tear ducts 244 Franko B (U.K.) 210
balloon-popping ability 68 Dunlap, Romola Remus (U.S.A.) 183 161, 161 fire hydrants Fraser, Danny (U.S.A.) 180
beer for 226 Dunn, Corbin (U.S.A.) 48 hearing movements of 112 floods street 18 freckles, false 23
bites shark 176 Durham, Tracy (U.S.A.) 112 impaled on shears 112, 112 tossing contest 34 Fredricksen, Carl (U.S.A.) 180
blind dog uses echolocation 74 Dutch East India Company 19 lifting weights with sockets 102 fire trucks Freire, Rachael (U.K.) 188, 188
blind sheepdog 54 Duvall, Ben (U.S.A.) 96 one-eyed dog 6, 6 driven round world 136 fridges
chases mountain lion up tree 68 DVDs, freak accident 83 one-eyed goat 6, 6 pulling 163, 163 fires beer cans 168
Chihuahua as police dog 68 one-eyed lamb 6, 6 fireworks movie theater made from 186
Chihuahua intimidates robbers 6o eagles, dancing 59 one-eyed shark 61, 61 giant pinwheel 143 very reliable 226
corgi-shaped cake for royal wedding Earl, Jon (U.K.) 189 parasitic worms 118, 118 painting with 210, 210 fries, enormous portion of 217
227 earrings popping 233, 233 Fischer, Mark (U.S.A.) 208 frisbee, on YouTube 174
creative grooming events 68, 68 football player loses 85 Fischl, Daniel (Aus) 66 frogs
eats owner's toes 96 very long 232 face fish changes color 64
elected as mayor 68 ears impaled man 104 banned 220 eating fallopian tubes of 214
Facebook page 172 boxer bites off 83, 83 knife blade found in 112 caught hundreds of times 90 extremely small 16
face lifts for 69 breathing through 103 two-faced cat 65, 65 drinking wine with 225 LEGO® model of dissected frog 209
flies with balloons 67, 67 cat with five 64 vending machine recognizes 27 eats wood 69 mass gathering wearing frog masks
friendships with birds 53, 6o cosmetic surgery for 108 Facebook 171 enormous schools of herrings 75 151
helps disabled owner 66 dog with four 70 baby named Like 173 falls from sky 59 unusual 72
hotel suites for 6o pearl found in 120 dog on 172 goldfish survive earthquake 62 wacky website 170
knife in head 26, 26 surgery for pointy 105, 105, 108 horsemaning 173, 173 lives in toxic mud 74 fruit, Thomas Jefferson's garden 214
long journey by 67 very long lobes 106 pets on 173 looks as if it is rotting 61 Fuji, Mount, rice-ball picture of 211
mouth glued shut 59 Earth, town named 38 police track criminal with 168 medicinal uses of sardines 226 Fukuda, Sensei Keiko (U.S.A.) 85
puppies differ in size 66, 66 earthquakes statistics 166 navigation ability 59 funeral parlor, film billboard and 22, 22
pushing stroller 177. 177 goldfish survive 62 facelifts, for dogs 69 piranhas attack swimmers 69 funerals
real hare in greyhound race 81 tweet rushes 170 factory, camouflage 32, 32-3 regurgitating goldfish 162, 162 clowns for 232
rescue center for 61 Eaton, Adam (U.S.A.) 83 Faherty, Michael (Ire) 244 sleep in mucus cocoon 54 Doritos inventor 235
rides scooter 63, 63 eBay fairies, believed to live under rock 41 swallows watch 70 woman wakes up at own 99
Ripley 8, 8 town bought on 168 fairy tales, re-created with balloons swimming backwards 59 fungi
in Royal Navy 67 weird items sold on 170-1 203 tattooed goldfish 62, 62 eating mummified caterpillar fungus
seeing-eye dog for 57 echolocation, blind dog uses 74 falls telephone booth as aquarium 242, 220
skydiving 58, 58-9 Edwards, Liz (U.K.) 54 air conditioner saves child 22, 22 242 giant 35
survives fall off cliff 59 Edwards, Michelle (Aus) 66 awning breaks child's fall 232 in tiny aquarium 209 poisonous 44
survives tornado 66 Edwards, Ryan (U.K.) 195, 195 horse falls into basement 6o use skin to eat 54 fur, very dense 68
sweeps streets 58 eels palm trees break child's fall 241 very large teeth 72
tiny sheepdog 57 in bladder 108, 108 soil saves child 107 very smelly 214 Gaboura, Rita[ and Ritag (Sdn) 99
titanium teeth for 57 electric eel powers Christmas lights taxi saves woman 23 Fisher, Eddie (U.S.A.) 192 game meat, eating 220
turning poop to gold 67 68 while sleepwalking 208 fishermen Gammon, Billy (U.K.) 162
very expensive 69 swallowing ability 57 families catches diver 87 Gandhi, Mahatma (lnd), miniature
walking on hind legs 69 eggs babies born at same time 18 catches prosthetic leg 96 copy
watching television 189 balancing on end 221 memorable birth dates 16, 21 fishing in Bering Sea 36 of autobiography 192
wedding 66 cooking in urine 217, 217 very large 14-15, 14-15 FitzSimons, Peter (Aus) 19 gannets, diving speed 58

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Ganz, Lisa and Debbie (U.S.A.) 224 guitars head (cont.) houses
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Gao Yuanyuan (Chn) 223 freak accident 83 two-headed tortoise 64 airplane built in • • •••
garbage made of cigar boxes 183 very small m, 111 basement 126 • •• • • •
hotel made of 201 marathon playing session 182 Heal, Dezy (U.S.A.) 113 as airplane hangar 137, 137
• • • • • •
-
talking bins 232 12-necked 186, 186 Heard, John (U.K.) 64 alligator in 53
Gary, Dr. Norman (U.S.A.) 142
Gaunson, Scott (Aus) So
guns
fox shoots hunter 243
heart
artificial 99, 102
built in tree 42
car falls onto roof 128, 128
Jacobs, Naomi (U.K.) 99
Jaffer, Armaan (lnd) So ::
Gay, William Thomas (U.K.) 121, 121
geckos, camouflage 75, 75
shooting hand for artwork 210
transformed into shovels 208
married couple suffer same disease
235
car parked in living room 130
destroyed with water for art 211
Jansen, Theo (Nld) 205
Janus, Tim "Eater X" (U.S.A.) 224
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Gediu, Tambun (Mal) 68
geese Ha Wenjin (Chn) 61
pizza de liveryman saves heart attack
victim 107
emu lives in 70
extremely weird 154-9, 159
javelins
foot speared by 85, 85
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friendship with dog 6o
nest on cliffs 58
Haas, Bobby (Mex) 74
Hadwin, Lee (U.K.) 208, 208
realistic gummy heart 245
Heath, Sam (U.K.) 160
falling over cliff 209
flies under balloons 183, 183
freak accident 83
Jaworzno, Eva and Pavel (Pol) 19
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police escort for 70 Hagman, Larry (U.S.A.) 211 heights horse falls into basement 6o jaws
genes, in cacao 242 Hai-tank (Chn) 109 high-wire walking on stilts 161 huge gingerbread house 218, 218 yawning dislocates 120
Gerchberg, Terence (U.S.A.) 86 Haidri, Azhar (Pak) 18 slacklining 143 man lives in tree house 48 yelling dislocates 83
Gershon, Alik (lsr) 85 Haiduc, Adrian (Rom) 232 walking on outside of tower 36 medieval tomb in cellar 44 jeans, unwashed 188
ghosts, haunted items sold on eBay Haight, Rusty (U.S.A.) 26-7, 27 working at 36, 36 replica of flying house 180 Jeeps, mass parade of 136
170, 171 hair helicopters, miniature 136 royal mural found in 211 Jefferson, Thomas (U.S.A.), love of
Gibbons, Cedric (U.S.A.) 186 body covered in m, 111 Hemmert, Tyler (U.S.A.) 113 seal pup found in 243, 243 gardening 214
gingerbread house, huge 218, 218 company dictates style 103 Hems, Heather (U.K.) 205 sinkhole opens up beneath 35 jelly bean, image of Kate Middleton
Ginsberg, Alexandra Daisy (U.K.) 98, 98 on double hand transplant 107 Hendrickson, Robin (U.S.A.) 53 tunnels beneath 42 on 224
giraffe-shaped cake 223 dress made of 195, 195 Hendrix, Jimi (U.S.A.) village painted blue 193, 193 jellyfish
gladiator impersonators 28 enormous "afro" 120, 120 album cover replicated on pizza without doors 42 very bright glow 72
glass, breaking with voice 108 football player sent off for mohawk 216, 216 Houston, Sam (U.S.A.) 192 very long tentacles 54, 55, 55
Glazebrook, Peter (U.K.) 219 So lip portrait of 198, 199 Howard, Dwight (U.S.A.) 169 Jenkins, Jason (U.K.) 20
gliders, skydiver transfers between 140, free haircuts 147 unlucky number 184 Howley, Kerry (U.K.) 211, 211 Jesus Christ, image of burned into
140-1 giant ball in eat's stomach 235, 235 Henri IV, King of France, long-lost head Hoyle, Ben (U.K.) 143 pan 218
Glover, Richard (Aus) 19 hanging from 23-5, 25 found 105 Hu Gansheng (Chn) 16 jet skis
Gneiting, Kelly (U.S.A.) 85 insects made of 120, 120 Henry VIII, King of England, mural Huang Jianming (Chn) So almost hits surfer 87, 87
gnomes, military 241 jewelry from human hair 211, 211 painting found 211 Huang Mingbo (Twn) 226, 226 world record 85
Goard, Debbie (U.S.A.) 223 leg hairs form alphabet 106, 106-7 Hensinger, Major Claude (U.S.A.) 181 Huis, Arnold van (Nld) 223, 223 jewelry
goats mass gathering of Mohicans 241 Hensinger, Ruth (U.S.A.) 181 Hultgren, Chayne (Aus) 18 from bullets 202
carcass used as ball 90-1, 91 Michael Jackson's catches fire 184 Herba, Krystian (Pol) 141 Hume, Jock (U.K.) 133 from human bones 239, 239
eating brains of 214 multiple hair cuts 161 herrings, enormous schools of 75 Huntly, Scott (U.K.) 141 from human hair 211, 211
as guard 74 on mummies 99 Herron, Derek (Aus) So, 174 hurricanes, very young TV reporter 186 octopus necklace 224, 224
thrown from tower 29, 29 Hamilton James, Charlie (U.K.) 70, 70 Hetfield, James (U.S.A.) 184 Hurt, John (U.K.) 116, 116 very long earring 232
walks on forelegs 74 Hammond, Arthur (U.K.) 186-7, 187 Heuschkel, Melissa (Ger) 170 Hyatt, James (U.K.) 22 Jian Tianjin (Twn) 106
with two heads 74, 74 Hammond, Emily (U.K.) 187 hibernation, very low body hypnotism, conquers cold 238 Jin Songhao (Chn) 146
Gobitaca, Alassan lssa (Swe) 176, 176 handcuffs, escaped criminal arrested temperature 6o Jo, Barbara (U.S.A.) 223
gold for stealing 243 high-wire walking ice job search 27
in cheese 221 hands slacklining 143 driving trucks on 36 Joel, Billy (U.S.A.) 82
very large coin 163 Alien Hand Syndrome 96 on stilts 161 extreme marathon on 82 Johansson, Erik (Swe) 203
Golden Globe award, magnetic replica bionic fingers 104 Hill, Glenallen (U.S.A.) 82 man drifts out to sea on 238 Johnson, Charles (U.S.A.) 143
of209 bones 239, 239 hippos men encased in 146 Johnson, Robert (U.S.A.) 184
Goldfinch, John (U.K.) 87 double hand transplant 107 keepers clean teeth 69 ice cream Johnston, Molly (U.S.A.) 23
goldfish extra fingers 120 speed 74 amphibious ice-cream van 131 Joiner, Ginny (U.S.A.) 176
regurgitating 162, 162 fingers found in jar 237 Hitler, Adolf cicada 222 Jolie, Angelina (U.S.A.) 202
survive earthquake 62 handless boy writes 120 cats that look like 170 giant ice-cream cake 223 Jones, Brian (U.K.) 184
tattooed 62, 62 handstands on one finger 109 portrait on urinal 152 huge choice of flavors 220 Jones, Charles Jr. (U.S.A.) 244
Goldsmith, Simon HJ.K.) 193 mourners cut fingers off 49, 49 sex change planned for 104 iceberg, Titanic disaster 132, 133 Jones, David (U.K.) 152
golf •, . ·
new fingertip grown on stomach Hochenedel, Sandra (U.S.A.) 6o Icelandic festival, in Canada 42 Jones, Milton (U.K.) 180
golf cart driver arrested for being 109, 109 hockey, superstitions 83 Ichikawa, Yukako (Aus) 217 Jones, Sarah (U.K.) 183
drunk 242 one-handed climber 106 hogs, sense of smell 67 impaling 113 Joplin, Janis (U.S.A.) 184
marathon game 87 paintings on 204, 204 hole, photographic illusion 203 driver impaled through face 104 Jordan, Bridgette and Brad (U.S.A.) 102
sharks on golf course 86, 86 shooting for artwork 210 Hollis, Helen (U.K.) 120 motorcycle rider impaled 122 Jordan, Michael (U.S.A.) 83
superstitions 83 toe transplanted to 96, 96 Hollywood, Ripley's museum 7, 7 shears impaled in eye 112, 112 Jovanovski, Bojana (Ser) 85
two holes-in-one 87 walking on So Holmdahl, James (U.S.A.) 67, 67 lneson, Richard (U.K.) 182 judges
very rare orchid on course 44 wedding ring causes loss of finger 83 Holmes, Chloe (U.K.) 104 lnge, Brandon (U.S.A.) 83 defendant jailed for calling "mate"
Gooddie, Chris (U.K.) 151 Hannibal Helmurto (Ger) 23-5, 23-5 Holmes, Michael (Nzl) 177 Innes, Duane (U.S.A.) 130 232
Gordon, Kurt (U.S.A.) 205 Hardie, Laurel-Ann (Can) 168 Holyfield, Evander (U.S.A.) 83, 83 insects tries man twice 28
Gordon, Susan (U.K.) 61 Harding, David (U.K.) 218 honey, on road 72 eating 220, 223, 223 judo, woman's success in 85
gorillas hare, real hare in greyhound race 81 Honnold, Alex (U.S.A.) 162, 162 made from hair 120, 120 juggling, by robot 141
dancing 176, 176 Harris, Louise (U.K.) 66 Hooper, Heidi (U.S.A.) 10 made from toenail clippings 112, 112 jungle, extreme marathon in 82
Gargantua the Great 56, 56 Harrison, Jim (U.S.A.) 217 Hopkins, Bernard (U.S.A.) 8, 8, 90, 90 sculpture from 205 junk, windmill generates electricity 36
gorilla mascot attacked by banana 19 Hart, Thomas (U.K.) 134 hopping procession 36 sculpture made from cars 211 junk food, losing weight with 220
made from car parts 9, 9 Hartley, Jane (U.K.) 6o horns, implanted in forehead 143-5, 144 very noisy 72 jury service, cat summoned for 54
Gorske, Don (U.S.A.) 226 Hartley, Wallace (U.K.) 133 horse racing, remarkable bet 87 wacky website 170
Goss, Alfonse Kennedy (Nzl) 28 hats horsemaning 173, 173 I nternational Space Station, astronauts Kaleta, Dave (U.S.A.) 209
Goud family (lnd) 226 knitted with electric cable 201 horses drink urine 217 Kalish, Michael (U.S.A.) 201, 201
Grace, W.G. (U.K.) 82 mosaic made of baseball caps 146 boots made like hooves 182, 182 Internet Kamkwamba, William (Mwi) 36
graduates Haub, Dr. Mark (U.S.A.) 220 falls into basement 6o "Batmanning" 175 Kanazawa, Mayuko (Jap) 106, 106-7
elderly 150, 152 Haubrich, Jane (U.S.A.) 186 performance artist injects horse influential people on 175 kangaroo, steals underwear 70
without part of brain 120 Hawkins-Turner, Annie (U.S.A.) 102, 102 plasma 2o8 pets on social networks 173 Kapoor, Anish (U.K.) 209
grandmothers Hayes, Kathy (U.S.A.) 107, 107 rider on fire 35, 35 "Rickrolling" 168 Kato, Sogen (Jap) 236
as bodybuilder 84, 84 head speed camera films 6o statistics 166 Kawolski, Michal (Pol) 238
very young 102 "bagelheads" 237, 237 with long mustache 6o, 6o wacky websites 170 Kaya, Ferhat (Bel) 16
grass, implanted in body 99, 99 bullet found in 107, 109 Horwood, John (U.K.) 99 Interpretive Arson 210 kebabs
graves, medieval tomb in cellar 44 climbing stairs with partner on 141 Hosie, Wesley (U.K.) 224 intestines, parasitic worms 118, 118 enormous 216
gravity, astronauts relearn effects of 16 conjoined twins separated 99 hospital, underground 42 iPad, fast typing on 175 very expensive 222
gravy wrestling 83 dislocated from spine 122 hot dogs iPhones Kelly, Jackie (U.S.A.) 241
Green, Alice and William (Can) 22 dog with knife in 26, 26 eating large quantities of 217 app helps crash victim 175 Kemeter, Michael (Aut) 143
Green, Deb (Can) 22 headstand on nail 140, 140 numbers eaten 214 blows air 172 Kennedy, Robert (U.S.A.) 104
Green, Terry (U.K.) 26 impaled on railings 113 speed-eating 226 boy designs video games 172 Keppner, Jeff (U.S.A.) 107
Green, Tim (U.K.) 73, 73 jar stuck on bear's head 70 stuffing into T-shirt 224 food covers 172, 172 Kerwin, Jim (U.K.) 238
Greene, Jerry (U.S.A.) 163 king's long-lost head found 105 very expensive 218 Irish, Natalie (U.S.A.) 198-9, 198-9 Keshvdass, Shobhit (lnd) 142
Gregg, June (U.S.A.) 19 knife impaled in 113 hot springs 38 lvanisevic, Goran (Cro) 83 Kessels, Erik (Nld) 166, 166-7
l Kessler, Andrew (U.S.A.) 192
Grennan, Kevin (U.K.) 16 photographic model of 208, 208 hotels
Gresak, Roman (Svk) 64 steel bar in 108 Communist-style holidays in 35 Jackson, Jessiah (U.S.A.) 113 Key, Max (Nzl) 169
greyhounds, chase real hare in race surviving being shot in 241 made of garbage 201 Jackson, Ken and Fay (U.K.) 232 keychains, live animals as 62, 62
81 sword removed from 112 suites for dogs 6o Jackson, Michael (U.S.A.) Khaisman, Mark (U.S.A.) 205
grizzly bears, speed of 243 turning 180 degrees 177 underground hobbit hotel 35 ceremonial funeral for 187 Khatun, Suman (lnd) 241
Guggenheim, Benjamin (U.S.A.) 134 two-headed goat 74, 74 underwater honeymoon suite 40 hair catches fire 184 Khris, Taig (Alg) 85
guinea worms 119, 119 two-headed snake 57. 57 very ancient 38 zoo 185 Khvichava, Antisa (Geo) 96

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Kiedis, Anthony (U.S.A.) 185 legs (cont.) McDonald, Paul (U.S.A.) 204 Migliore, Vincent (U.S.A.) 169, 169 movies (cont.)
Kikai, Mitsugu (Jap) 168 legless swimmer 81 McDonald's 225 Mihajlovic, Nikola (Ser) 182 dummies as extras 190-1, 190-1
kilt, enormous 142 mountain climbing with prosthetic McDuffy, Robert (U.S.A.) 26 Mildon, Jed (Nld) 90 filmed in tallest building 182
King, James (U.K.) 98, 98 leg 162 Mcintosh, Reef (Tah) 87, 87 milk cartons, rowboats made from 143 huge box-office takings 181
King, Larry (U.S.A.) 189 one-legged wrestling champion So Mcintosh, Richard (U.S.A.) 190 mince pie, very expensive 219 marriage proposal on movie screen
King, Stephen (U.S.A.) 205 prosthesis found in lake 96 Mack, Fred {U.S.A.) 141 Mitsunaga, Endo (Jap) 161 176
Kings of Leon 186 running marathons with prosthetic McKerron, Sonya and Billy (U.K.) 67 Mok, Dave (Can) 211 multiple props 183
Kirkbride, Stephen (U.K.) 232 leg 162 McKinnon, Paul (Aus) 244 Molinelli, Charly (Fra) 136, 136 photos of baby re-create scenes from
Kiselic, Marin (Cro) 41 self-amputation 107 Mclaughlin, Matthew (Aus) 232 Monet, Claude (Fra) 204 186-7, 187
kissing severed foot re-attached 104 McManaway, Hugh (U.S.A.) 136 money replica of flying house 180
nonstop 160 three-legged duck 57 McMenemy, Andy (U.K.) 162 bank leaves behind 16 scenes painted on fingernails 189, 189
royal wedding 168 Lemann, Felix (Aut) 245 McNamara, Garrett (U.S.A.) 86, 86 burning as art project 180 Smurfs movie 193, 193
kiteboarders Lena, Jay (U.S.A.) 177 Madine, Thelma (U.K.) 195 coins on painting 42 theater made from refrigerators 186
crossing Bering Strait 87 lentil seed, very old 242 Madonna (U.S.A.), album cover collecting dropped coins 162 mowing lawn, while sleepwalking 208
over pier 86 Lesko, Taras (U.S.A.) 208, 208 replicated on pizza 216 giant coin made from pennies 203 mud-pit belly flops 88, 88-9
walks on water 142, 142 letters, leg hairs form alphabet 106, maggots, painting with 203 large collection of bank notes 161 Mukhametzyanov, Fagilyu (Rus) 99
Klein, David (U.S.A.) 245 106-7 magnetism old banknote found in book 192 mummies 45, 45
Knight, Sherry (U.S.A.) 162 lettuce, eating large quantities of 214 magnetic child 112 production of coins 22 in car 232
knitting, famous paintings 203 Lewis, Adrianne 103, 103 man with magnetic powers 106, 106 shredded notes reassembled 20 eating mummified caterpillar fungus
knives Li Fu (U.S.A.) 112 Mahler, Robert 173, 173 Star Wars characters on coins 243 220
blade found in head 112 Li Zicheng (Chn) 96, 96 mail very large gold coin 163 hair styles studied 99
freak accident 83 Liang Yuxin (Chn) 162, 162 child sent by 238 worthless bills 18 Munch, Edvard (Nor), knitted painting
impaled in head 113 Libby, Mike (U.S.A.) 205 glues dog's mouth shut 59 Mongolia 34 203
push-ups on 141 library, man lives in 244 healthy worker 18 monkeys Munoz, Julio (Chl) 152
Kolpin, Diane (U.S.A.) 75, 75 lice 119, 119 mammoth tusks 19 allergy to rain 57 murals
Kolstad, Marie (U.S.A.) 112 life, selling on eBay 170 manhole, exploding 127 attacks people 74 Ute-Brite toy pegs 235
Konenko, Anatoly (Rus) 209 lightning, strikes troop of cadets 36 Mans, David (U.K.) 162 eating brains of 214 permanent marker portraits 204
Korotun, Yuriy (Rus) 58, 58 lights manure, sold on eBay 171 as guards 90 royal painting found in house 211
Kozierski, Maciek (Pol) 142, 142 electric eel powers 68 Maple, Jessica (U.S.A.) 26 jump into water 59, 59 mushrooms
Kratzer, Charlie (U.S.A.) 204 fluorescent-light fighting 78-9, 79 maps, Google maps blamed for pet 71, 71 eating 221, 221
Kresse, Jason (U.S.A.) 86 painting with 202, 202-3, 240, 240 military incursion 172 sign language 58 giant 35
Krohn, Beth (U.S.A.) 96 Lincoln, Abraham (U.S.A.), coffin market, train runs through 126, 126-7 as station masters 58 music
Kumar, Anil (lnd) 113 hidden 107 Marley, Bob (Jam), album cover Monroe, Marilyn (U.S.A.) band attacked with guns 187
Kumar, Harsh (lnd) 122 Lincoln, Nancy Hanks (U.S.A.) 44 replicated on pizza 216 Ancient Egyptian hairstyles 99 Bruce Springsteen tribute acts 192
Kumar, Rakesh (lnd) 102 Lindbergh, Pelle (U.S.A.) 83 marriage, shared husband 18 lip portrait of 198, 199 elephant orchestra 193
kung fu Lindley, Carl K. (U.S.A.) 35 marriage proposals toast portrait of 202 fire hazards 184-5
elderly master 85 Line, Sue (U.K.) 66 on bus display sign 127 wiggle 193 gigs in shed 189
and giant calligraphy 211 Linn, Andrew (U.S.A.) 104 dancing carrots in 26 moon, astronaut suit patented 245 huge wall of speakers 182, 182
Kurtz, Andrew (U.S.A.) 87 Linn, George (U.S.A.) 107 on movie screen 176 moose, eating noses of 214 most recorded song 187
Kurtz, Bob (U.S.A.) 87 lint, pictures made from 10, 10 owl delivers ring 20 Moraes, Zacarias Pacheco de (Bra) 109 musical tie interrupts speech 188
Kusy, Wayne (U.S.A.) 200 Lintz, Gertrude (U.S.A.) 56 marsupial, huge skeleton 16 Morgan, Adrian (U.S.A.) 224 performers' demands 184
lions Martich, Wander (U.S.A.) 203 Morgan, Danielle (U.K.) 235, 235 popular album 180
Lackey, Tom (U.K.) 152 cross-eyed 57 Martin, Anthony (U.S.A.) 152 momues profitable concert tour 187
ladders friendship with meerkat 53, 53 Martin, Bobby (U.S.A.) 80-1, 81 alarm system for 244 rock star gets doctorate 187
bullock's head stuck in 70 living in cage with 163 Martin, Rose and Walter (U.S.A.) 232 man wakes up in 238 sharks like rock m�sic 180
climbing ladder of swords 153, 153 lips Martino, Tom (U.S.A.) 59 Morris, Gladys (U.K.) 102 successful TV series 189
Lady Gaga (U.S.A.) painting with 198-9, 198-9 Martz, Daniel {U.S.A.) 235 Morris, Oneal Ron (U.S.A.) 241, 241 tattooed rock stars 185; 185
huge number of Twitter followers writing novel with 193 Marx, Tyler Ashton (U.S.A.) 21 Morrison, Jim (U.S.A.) 184 to ripen bananas 195
166 Ute-Brite toy peg mural 235 Mary, Virgin, cheese sandwich with Mortensen, John Kenn (Den) 205 visiting multiple festivals 192
influence of 180 Little, James (U.S.A.) 96 likeness of 170 mortuary, drive-thru 45 wolves scared off by heavy metal
Kermit the Frog coat 195 Liu Fei (Chn) 17, 17 matchstick model 10, 10 mosaics music 182
meat dress 180, 180 Liu Hui-fen (Twn) 20 Mathis, Johnny (U.S.A.) 82 made with baseball caps 146 musical instruments
and vomit art 205, 206 Liu Ling (Chn) 22 Matthews, Aubrey (U.S.A.) 88, 88 marble portrait 205 giant banjo 182
Lair, Richard (U.S.A.) 193 Liu Yuejin (Chn) 216 Matthews, Charlotte (U.K.) 216 rice-ball picture of Mount Fuji 211 guitars made of cigar boxes 183
lake, glows in dark 41 liver, staples from transplant made into Matthews, Rob (U.K.) 192, 192 Star Wars in LEGQ® 203 marathon guitar-playing session 182
Lamitie, Vincent (U.S.A.) 108 artwork 211 Maughan, Sarah (U.S.A.) 162 sushi 205 playing church organ continuously
Lancaster, Andrew (Nzl) 200, 200 Livingston, James (U.S.A.) 152 Maxim, Nick (U.S.A.) 120 Mosley, John (U.K.) 109 186
Langford, Kendall (U.S.A.) 85 lizards May, Brian (U.K.) 187 Moss, Larry (U.S.A.) 203 playing piano facing backwards 195
Langston, Jacob (U.S.A.) 177 "Lizardman" (U.S.A.) 143-4, 143-5 Mayer, Regina (Ger) 66 Motley CrUe 185 trombone as flamethrower 173
Lao Li (Chn) 243 rare lizard found on restaurant menu mayors motorcycles 12-necked guitars 186, 186
Lao Yang (Chn) 53 222 dog elected as 68 base-jumping off cliff on 152 mustache, horse with very long 6o, 6o
Laros, Francis (U.S.A.) 86 sprays jets of blood 72 no candidates for 48 car welded to 130
Latimer, Johnny (U.K.) 28 lobsters Meade, Alexa (U.S.A.) 202 like alien monster 130-1, 131 Nagy, Dr. Lajos (U.S.A.) 108
laughing, inability to control 232 sculpture 226, 226 mealworms, eating 94-5, 94-5, 223, lobster-shell 226, 226 nail, headstand on 140, 140
Laurel and Hardy 168 shoplifted 236 223 long-distance race on 87 Nakamura, Ricky (U.S.A.) 96, 96
Laurie, Hugh (U.K.) 82, 82 locusts, eating 94-5, 94-5 meat, dress made of 180, 180 made from candies 7, 7 Napoleon I, Emperor
Lauther, Percilla (U.S.A.) m, m Lodge, Jessica (U.K.) 87 medicine, Voodoo 46-7 rider impaled 122 favorite cheese 220
Laval-Jeantet, Marion (Lux) 208 Logsdon, Billy (U.S.A.) 26, 27 Meegeren, Han van (Nld) 200 sheep rides on 21, 21 penguin named after 242
Law Lok Lam (Chn) 181 Lomantini, Patrick (U.S.A.) 147 meerkat, friendship with lion 53, 53 unusual crash helmets 22-3, 23 Narcisse, Clairvius (Hai) 47
Lawless, Blackie (U.S.A.) 185 lotteries Meldrum, David (U.K.) 200 Motter, Cain (U.S.A.) 209, 209 national anthem, jail for singing
lawn mowing, while sleepwalking 208 multiple winners 19 memory mountain lion, dog chases up tree 68 badly 34
Lawrence, Peter (U.S.A.) 23 ticket seller wins 20 amnesia 99 mountains Nebel, Kyle (Aus) So
Le, Josh (Can) 188 winning numbers repeated 22 artificial brain 16 climbing every day 151 necklaces
leaf, enormous 151 Loughrey, Matt (Ire) 151 Merrick, Joseph (U.K.) 114-17, 115-17 climbing with prosthetic leg 162 human hair 211, 211
Learie, Darryl (Can) 160, 160 Lourenco, Lia Marie 85, 85 metal detecting, child finds gold 22 climbing with washing machine on octopus 224, 224
leather Love, Maddie and Neal (U.S.A.) 168 Metallica 184 back Needs, Mike (U.S.A.) 107
dress made of cow nipples 188, 188 Lu Shanlu (Chn) 74 Meyer, Chuck (U.S.A.) 183 152, 152 Newby family (U.K.) 70
for footballs So Lucky, the Painproof Man 9, 9 Meyer, Dan (U.S.A.) 147 4X4 vehicle abandoned on 232 newts, defenses 72
Lee, Jennie (U.S.A.) m, m Luetscher, Leroy (U.S.A.) 112, 112 Meyer, Edward (Can) 8, 8 high-level polo tournament 90 Nicklaus, Jack (U.S.A.) 83
Lee, John (Can) 182, 182 luggage cart, runs over cricketer 83 mice jumping from mountain with Nicolai, Ruben (Nld) 189
Lee, Suzanne (U.K.) 195 Lumbania, Lloyd (Phi) 214, 214 bridges for dormice 72 wingsuit 163 Nicora, Nick (U.S.A.) 225
Lee, Tommy (U.S.A.) 185 lungs, taste buds in 103 in potato chip packet 222 one-handed climber 106 nipples, dress made of cow 188, 188
legs Luo Yanbo (Chn) 122 singing 17 very young climber 143 noodles, robots cook 221
armless and legless man 121, 121 Lv Li (Chn) 107 Michaels, Steve (U.S.A.) 35 walking round 161 North Pole
cats with very short 6o lynx, dog adopts kitten 70 Michelangelo (Ita) Mountfield, Dave (U.K.) 131 extreme marathon 82
dog walks on hind legs 69 The Hand of God made from Rubik's mouth rowing to 162
extra 106 Ma Deqi (Chn) 160 Cubes 204 camera in 18, 18-19 nose
goat walks on forelegs 74 Ma Jei (Chn) 40, 40 signature 203 chewing gum sculpture 216, 216 blowing freaks baby 168
hairs form alphabet 106, 106-7 Ma Jun (Chn) 104 Mickey Mouse, potato in shape of 171 multiple drinking straws in 142, 142 boxer breaks own 83
legless acrobat 107 Mabbutt, Stephen (U.K.) 112 Middleton, Kate (U.K.) two uvulas 96 eating moose nose 214
legless climber So McCartney, Made (U.S.A.) 106 banana sculpture of 226 Mouth, Jim (U.S.A.) 142 flexible 96, 96
legless Elvis impersonator 180 McCartney, Paul (U.K.) 187 corgi-shaped cake for 227 movies objects hammered into 122
legless football player 80-1, 81 McCormack, Steven (Nzl) 232, 232 image of on jelly bean 224 bear stars in 57 pulling snakes through 17, 17
legless skateboarders So McCurdy, Elmer (U.S.A.) 122 wedding kiss 168 computer-generated images 182 tooth grows in 108, 108

• • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • • • •• • •
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• •• •
Novozheev, Yevgeny (Rus) 87 Paswan, Deepak (lnd) 106 polo, high-level tournament 90 Reed, Nikki (U.S.A.) 204 ••• w:ii w --r i p l e y b o o k s - c o m

•
numbers Pauson, Maximus Julius (U.S.A.) 26 pool table, made with omelet 217 Reeves, Dan (U.S.A.) 126 •
bank notes with same 161 peanut butter artwork, man treads popsicles, very expensive 214 refrigerators • •
book of randomly generated 192 on 17, 17 population census, China 40 fires beer cans 168
• • • • •
-
unlucky for rock stars 184 "Peanuts" cartoon 7, 7 Portaleo, Karen 222, 222 movie theater made
nun, bones found in luggage 245
Nunez, Cameron (U.S.A.) 235
pearl, found in ear 120
Pearson, Debbie (U.S.A.) 61
portraits
marble mosaic 205
from 186
very reliable 226
Roongrojna Sangwongprisarn (Tha)
130-1, 131 =
nuts, crows use cars to crack 63 penguin, falls in love with boot 242
Perchermeier, Angelynn (U.S.A.) 234
painted on fingernails 204
permanent marker mural 204
reindeer, cause car crashes 62
restaurants
roosters
fighting cock kills owner 239
c.
Obama, Barack (U.S.A.), microscopic
sculpture of 148
performance art
artist injects horse plasma 208
punch bag portrait of Muhammad
Ali 201, 201
Brad Pitt works for in giant chicken
costume 182
kills man 28
sunglasses stop fighting 74
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Ochoa, Jose Luis (U.S.A.) 28 branding as 210 in sand 2o1 customers eat in cars 225 Root, Peter (U.K.) 209
Roseblade, Kimberleigh Smithbower
X
octopuses cows in the sea 208 toast portrait of Marilyn Monroe 202 discount for eating everything 217
as necklace 224, 224 with blood 210 Post-it Notes, drawings on 205 marathon pub crawl 226 (Can) 105, 105
octopus-shaped cake 222, 222 perfume postage stamps, very large collection popularity of McDonald's 225 Ross, Gary (U.S.A.) 190
squirts water at aquarium visitors 6o blood-scented 181, 181 of242 prison-themed 220 Rossi, Zeli (Bra) 245
O'Flaherty, Rebecca (U.S.A.) 203 national 42 postal services rare lizard found on restaurant menu roundworms 118, 118
Ogbuta, Chidi and Innocent (U.S.A.) 223 very expensive 16 child sent by 238 222 rowing, to North Pole 162
O'Hagan, Helen (Aus) 109 Perry, Richard (U.S.A.) 180 healthy worker 18 robot waiters 226 Rowling, J.K. (U.K.) 192
Okeke, Charles (U.S.A.) 102 Petrone, Evan (U.S.A.) 195 postcards robots cook noodles 221 rubber bands, enormous balls of 141,
oldest woman 96 Petrovic, Nemanja (Ser) 18 photo of mother found 27 shark sushi 236 141
Olek (Pol) 201, 201 Phillips, Mark Steven (U.S.A.) 28 very late delivery 21 turns royalty away 224 Rubik's Cubes, paintings re-created
omelet, pool table made from 217 Phoenix, Columbine (U.S.A.) 239, 239 potatoes twins restaurant 224 with 204
O'Neal, Ryan (U.S.A.) 82 photographs eating nothing but 216 wall of books 224 rulers, longest ruling dynasty 42
onion, very heavy 219 on Flickr 166, 166-7 enormous portion of fries 217 Rev, Dr. (Aus) 210 running
Onions, Jude (U.K.) 28 model of head 208, 208 in shape of Mickey Mouse 171 Reyes, Pedro (Mex) 208 across America 141
Openshaw, Phil! (U.K.) 127 re-creating childhood 238, 238 Powell, Angie and Rhodri (U.K.) 211 Reynolds, Mark (U.S.A.) 85 extreme marathons 82
orangutans Phuong, Nguyen Thi (Vnm) 102, 102 Presley, Elvis (U.S.A.) rice father-and-son team in marathon 152
digs tunnel to rejoin mate 67 pianos annual festival 193 consumption of 218 five runners tethered together in
rescues chick 176 playing facing backwards 195 impersonators 193 giant sushi mosaic 205 marathon 86
Orchard, Sam (U.K.) 74 Picasso, Pablo (Spa) legless impersonator 180 giant sushi rolls 224 marathon on treadmill 161
orchids, very rare 44 admires chimpanzee's paintings 57 plastic fern sold on eBay 171 rice-ball picture of Mount Fuji 211 wedding during marathon 23
organ, playing continuously 186 first word 205 Price, Dale and Rain (U.S.A.) 235 Richa, Walid (Leb) 226 with prosthetic leg 162
Ormrod, Mark (U.K.) 141 knitted painting 203 prisons Riddle, Paul (U.S.A.) 173 Rusnak, Ryan (U.S.A.) 168
O'Rourke family (U.S.A.) 61 in permanent marker mural 204 bakery in 224 Rihanna (Bar) Ryder, Caroline (U.K.) 64
Orrico, Tony (U.S.A.) 209 pier, kiteboarder jumps over 86 escapee in suitcase 234 Ancient Egyptian hairstyles 99 Ryder, Jon (U.K.) 130
Oscars, model for statuette 186 Pierce, Paula (U.S.A.) 19 escapologists 152 album cover replicated on pizza 216
Oster, Jlirgen (Aut) 245 Pierstorff, May (U.S.A.) 238 man sentenced to spend Christmas Riley, Pam (U.S.A.) 96 Saakashvili, Eduard (Geo) 175
Overwijk, Alex (Can) 202 Pignatoro, April (U.S.A.) 16 in 235 Ringling Bros. Circus 56 Saengtai, Anchalee (Tha) 10, 10
owls pigs prison-themed restaurant 220 rings Sadler, Jacqueline (Can) 186
delivers ring 20 bobbing for pigs' feet 88, 88 prisoner complains cell is too small causes finger loss 83 St Paul's Cathedral, London, cake
drunken 62 parade of roasted pigs 37, 37 102 long-lost 19, 26 replica of 223
imprint on window 28, 28 piglet seized for debt 66 wacky website 170 owl delivers 20 Salehi, Nabi (U.K.) 161
plastic owls fool birdwatchers 232 pillow, causes injury 83 Pucci, Ferdinand (Ita) 234, 234 Ripley, Robert 6, 6 Sallin, Matty (U.S.A.) 16
oysters, drown birds 6o pinball machine, skateboarders on Pujie Girls (Twn) 169, 169 Ritchie, Don (Aus) 239 salsa dancer, elderly 183
giant 91, 91 pumpkins, boat race in 34 river, underwater 48 Saltaneh, Zohreh Etezad (Iran) 203
Pace, Bill (U.S.A.) 130 pineapple, as painkiller 224 push-ups road sweeper, tai chi routine 177 Samati Yiming (Chn) 161
Pacino, AI (U.S.A.) 171, 171 Pink (U.S.A.) 185 on knives 141 roads sand, artwork changes color 201
packing tape, artworks made from 205 pirates one-armed on egg 160, 160 building in India 136 Sandstrom, Tracey (Aus) 64
paint, wacky website 170 mass gathering of 151 Pylyshenko, Alexander (Ukr) 163 collapses 129, 129 sandwiches
paintings. miniature helicopter tracks 136 pythons honey on 72 enormous B.L.T. 222
.
after brain damage·99 Pires, Joe (U.S.A.) 137, 137 deer in stomach 243, 243 very twisty 45, 45, 131 enormous spam sandwich 224
body paintings 202 Pitkamaki, Tero (Fin) 83 wedding 38 zombie warnings on signs 168, 168 sold on eBay 170
by chimpanzee 57 Pitt, Brad (U.S.A.) robbers Santas
cause illness 201 tears Achilles tendon 195 Qasim, Humaira (Pak) 18 Chihuahua intimidates 6o mass gathering wearing Santa hats 151
coins on 42 works for restaurant in giant chicken Qiao Yu (Chn) 53 corpse found in chimney 239 pentathlon for 41
of every meal 2oo costume 182 Qiu Sheng (Chn) 122 escapes on crutches 26 sardines, medicinal uses 226
forgery 200 Pixelskaya, Maya (Spa) 189, 189 quadruplets, multiple sets of 106 latex face masks 26 Sasuphan, Supatra (Tha) 8, 8
on hands 204, 204 pizza Queen 187, 189 swallows diamond 112 Satoh, Yoshihiko (Jap) 186, 186
knitting 203 album covers replicated on 216, 216 Queen Mary, toothpick model of 200 wants medical treatment 239 sausages
light paintings 202, 202-3, 240, 240 consumption of 217 Quellette, Ryan (U.S.A.) 104, 104 in wheelchair 23 addiction to 218
movie scenes painted on fingernails de liveryman saves heart attack Quinnell, Justin and Louis (U.K.) 18, 18 Robert, Alain (Fra) 146-7, 146-7 very long 226
189, 189 victim 107 Robin Hoods, mass gathering of 151 Savage, Robbie (U.K.) 87
portrait painted on fingernails 204 fast delivery 216 rabbits Robins, Kevin (Can) 142 Savage-Rumbaugh, Dr. Sue (U.S.A.) 57
royal mural found in house 211 long journey for 217 as biofuel 57 Robinson, Rachel (U.K.) 188 Saveliev, Denis (U.S.A.) 209
very young artist 200 planet, made of diamonds 16 wheeled cart for 61 Robles, Anthony (U.S.A.) 8o saw, swallowing 147
vomit art 205-7, 205-7 planking 169, 169, 175 Radcliffe, Daniel (U.K.) 183 robots Sawicka, Anastasia (Pol) 23-5, 23-5
with blood 210 plants radio, very long interview 19 cook noodles 221 Saxena, Akshat (lnd) 120
with fireworks 210, 210 carnivorous 44, 44 raft, crossing Atlantic on 126 drive cars 17 Scannapieco, Lindsey (U.S.A.) 186
with lips 198-9, 198-9 imported to island 44 railways juggling ability 141 scarification 104, 104
with maggots 203 poisonous 44 high-speed train 126 jumping over walls 27 Schaefer, Dick (U.S.A.) 211
with toes 203 very rare orchid 44 man's arm stuck in toilet 232 man wears robot suit 192 Schalk, Ruben (Nld) 19
Pakravan, Reza (U.K.) 127 Plass, Leo (U.S.A.) 150 medical benefits of tracks 20, 20 marathon race 16 Schellenberger, Nadine (Ger) 224
palace, windows never opened 42 Player, Gary (S.A.) 83 monkeys as station masters 58 opens baseball game 87 Scheurich, Matthew (Nzl) 234
palindrome, birth and death dates Poe, Edgar Allan (U.S.A.) 82 runs through market 126, 126-7 sweat glands for 16 Schexnider, Joseph (U.S.A.) 239
form 244 poetry, rhyming defense for speeding termites cause crash 72 waiters 226 Schiller, Marlies (Ger) 19
Palmer, Amanda (U.S.A.) 194. 194 22 very crowded 126 rock, fairies believed to live under Schippers, Wim T. (Nld) 17, 17
pandas poisons very large collection of toy trains 163 41 Schmitt, Anthony (U.S.A.) 202
conservationists wear panda jellyfish 55, 55 very long model 2oo rock music Schuler, David (U.S.A.) 217
costumes 54, 54 poisonous plants 44 very long trains 20 band attacked with guns 187 Schult, HA (Ger) 201
in London Zoo 57 Voodoo 47 rain, monkey's allergy to 57 fire hazards 184-5 Schultz, Charles (U.S.A.) 7, 7
Pandey, Shruti (lnd) 122 polar bears rain forest, extreme marathon in 82 performers' demands 184 scooters
Pang Kun (Chn) 26 swimming with 69, 69 Ramlan (ldn) 107 profitable concert tour 187 dog rides 63, 63
parachute, dress made from 181 very long swim 66 Ramos, Sergio (Spa) 86 sharks like 180 made of wood 130
parallel lives 26 police ranger, elderly 162 star gets doctorate 187 scorpions, eating 94-5, 94-5
parasitic worms 118-19, 118-19 boy complains about chores to 234 rapper, deaf 192 tattooed stars 185, 185 Scotch tape, sculpture 235
Parmley, Greg (U.K.) 192 chase criminals on rollerblades 28 rats unlucky numbers 184 screwdrivers, tricycle powered by 127
parrots Chihuahua as police dog 68 eating 214, 219, 219 Roger, Patrick (Fra) 222 sculpture
imitates smoke alarm 74 escort for geese 70 fashion show for 74 rollerblades accidentally thrown away 209
traveling pets 6o multiple searches of house 232 sacred 42 police use 28 bananas 226, 226
Parviainen, Janne (Fin) 202, 202-3 track criminal with Facebook 168 razor, very expensive 241 very long jump on 85 butter 214
Pascal, Jean (Hai) 90 use skull as bookend 238 Rea, Ron (U.S.A.) 20 Rolling Stones 184 cars turned into insects 211
pasta strainer, in driving license photo vultures fail as sniffer dogs 242 Redneck Games 88-9, 88-9 Rollins, Henry (U.S.A.) 185 carving with feet 205
238 wacky website 170 Reed, Chester Arthur (U.S.A.) 18 Romano, ltalo (Bra) 8o chewing gum 216, 216

• • • • •
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• -
•
-- · · ·- -- - .. • • • • •
• • •
• • • - • •
• •
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 sculpture (cont.) sinkholes 35 Socrates (Grc), death of 44 stomach (cont.) tattoos
chopstick tree 208 Sitterly, Doree (U.S.A.) 68 Soddy, Rytch (U.K.) 109 giant hairball in eat's 235, 235 on amputation stump 245, 245
elk statue made of antlers 205 Ska, Valio (Nor) 245, 245 Solarz, Chris (U.S.A.) 86 metal removed from 107 arsonist has flame tattoos 104
fairy tales re-created with balloons skateboards Soldier, Dave (U.S.A.) 193 pulling car with stomach muscles 109 asks for foregiveness 104
203 on giant pinball machine 91, 91 songs toothbrush in 108, 108 cremation ashes in 122
from CDs 211, 211 legless riders 8o, Bo-1, 81 jail for singing badly 34 Stone, Sharon (U.S.A.) 189 food-related 23
from credit cards 209, 209 multiple leaps on 90 most recorded 187 store, virtual 166, 166 gives burglar away 23
from insects 205 skeletons, light paintings 202, 202-3 short stories based on 188 Strenge, Chad (U.S.A.) 68 ''Lizardman" 143-4, 143-5
kinetic animals 205 skiing singing continuously 195 stuntman, elderly 181, 181 · medical instructions 241
lobsters 226, 226 cheese helps bruises 85 singing mice 17 Stykan, Anatol (Cze) 141 over whole body 99-101, 99-101, 120
magnetic replica of Golden Globe extreme marathon 82 Soren, Singrai (lnd) 239 subways rock stars 185, 185
award 209 skin Sosa, Sammy (U.S.A.) 82 commuters in underwear 236 tattooed goldfish 62, 62
microscopic 147-9, 147-9 allergy ages rapidly 102, 102 Soskin, Betty Reid (U.S.A.) 162 smelly cheese banned from Paris Where's Waldo scene on back 109
motorcycle as 130-1, 131 "bagelheads" 237, 237 soup Metro 220 tax bill, very late 245
Scotch tape 235 body branding 104, 104 made from bats 227, 227 Sugawara, Susumu (Jap) 36 taxi, saves falling woman 23
wooden dinosaur 201 scarification 104, 104 very old 220 suitcase, prison escapee in 234 taxidermy 11, 11, 200, 200
Sdiri, Salim (Fra) 83 skull Sowden, W. Rex (U.K.) 133 sulfur mine, in volcano 36 Taylor, Ali (U.K.) 57
sea cucumber, eating 221, 221 carved out of cabbage 215, 215 Space Shuttle, butter sculpture of 214 sumo wrestler, runs in marathon 85 Taylor, Elizabeth (U.K.) 192
sea otters, keeping warm 61 formation in cave 48, 48 spam sandwich, enormous 224 sunglasses Taylor, Rocky (U.K.) 181, 181
seal pup, found in house 243, 243 police use as bookend 238 speakers, huge wall of 182, 182 man wears all time 28 tea bag, giant 224
seaweed dress 224, 224 skydiving Spears, Britney (U.S.A.), chewing gum mass gathering wearing in dark 151 teeth
Seddiqui, Dan (U.S.A.) 27 by centenarian 141 sold on eBay 171 stop roosters fighting 74 bullet ricochets off 108
seeds, large collection of 44 by dog 58, 58-9 Spears, David (U.K.) 74, 74 Super Mario, large collection of cleaning hippos' 69
Sell, Markus (Swi) 130 lucky escape 177 speech, foreign accent syndrome 122 memorabilia 168 dentures deflect bullet 109
Sergeev, Tima (Rus) 169, 169 transfers between gliders 140, 140-1 speeding Superman, cosmetic surgery to look fish with very large 72
Seus, Doug and Lynne (U.S.A.) 57 skyscrapers anti-speeding campaign 38 like 187, 187 grown from stem cells 109
sewer, man survives fall into 234 climbing freestyle 146-7. 146-7 police officer books man in England supermarket, unusual stock 220, 220 grows in nose 108, 108
sex change, planned for Hitler 104 fox living in 57 and New Zealand 16 superstitions titanium teeth for dog 57
Sexton, Shanna (U.K.) 74 movie filmed in tallest 182 rhyming defense 22 sport 83 telephone booths
Shamsher, Dr. Moosa Bin (Ban) 19 toddler survives fall from 107 spiders Voodoo 46 as aquarium 242, 242
Sharapova, Maria (Rus) 104 Slade brothers (U.K.) 133 eating 214 Surette, Rob (U.S.A.) 235 serves beer 224
Shardlow, Rachael (Aus) 55, 55 sleep enormous webs 66, 66, 72 surfing telephones
share certificate, very valuable 19 in coffin 245 nightmare causes accident 82 on giant wave 86, 86 cell phone rings in crocodile's
sharks siesta competition 40 Spiers, Joan (U.K.) 19 jet ski almost hits surfer 87, 87 stomach 168
ancient jawbone found 36 woman falls asleep in tree 236 spirograph, human 209 shark jumps over surfer 177 child makes emergency call 108
dog bites 176 woodpecker 61, 61 spitting, cherry pit spitting contest 83 surgery scented cell phones 172
on golf course 86, 86 Sleep, Rob (U.K.) 162 sponge, left in body after surgery 109 facelifts for dogs 69 television
human body found in 67 sleepwalking 82, 208, 208 sport foreign accent after 122 changing channels with psychic
jumps into fisherman's boat 86 small people 97, 97, 102, 120, 245, 245 celebrity abilities 82 man operates on self 108 powers 180
jumps over surfer 177 smells freak injuries 82-3 pointy ears 105, 105, 108 dogs watch 189
like rock music 180 hogs' sense of smell 67 superstitions 83 sponge left in body after 109 huge number of interviews 189
long tails 59 smoke alarm for deaf people 243 weird events 83 to look like Superman 187. 187 multiple deaths for soap opera
one-eyed 61, 61 smiley face, huge human-made 202 Spotts, Brian (U.S.A.) 221 sushi character 181
sushi for attack survivors 236 Smith, Adam (U.K.) 87 Sprague, Erik "The Lizardman" (U.S.A.) giant rolls 224 presenter run over by car 189
wedding in shark tank 16 Smith, Anthony (U.K.) 126 143-4, 143-5 mosaic of 205 replica of coffee f)£> use 181
Shaw, George Bernard (U.K.) 204 Smith, Brodie (Aus) 174 Sprague, Rawni and Rob (U.S.A.) 89 shark sushi 236 tweet rushes 170
shed, gigs in 189 Smith, Steven (U.S.A.) 26 Springfield, Dusty (U.K.) 182 speed-eating 224 very young reporter 186
Sheen, Charlie (U.S.A.) 166, 166 Smith, Tae (U.K.) 141 Springsteen, Bruce (U.S.A.) very expensive 221 watching nonstop 189, 189
sheep Smith-Eccles, Bill (U.K.) 28 backstage demands 184 Suter, Glenn (Aus) 244 tennis
blind sheepdog 54 smoke alarms short stories based on song by 188 swan, obsession with tractor 53 player flies to wrong place 85
counting contest 83 for deaf people 243 tribute acts 192 Swart, Vernon (S.A.) 26, 26 player's loud grunts 104
dyed orange to deter thieves 64 parrot imitates 74 spying, vulture arrested for 6o sweat superstitions 83
rides on motorcycle 21, 21 Smurfs squid colored 104 termites, cause train crash 72
rodeo riders on 80-1, 81 mass gathering of 151 eating raw 214 sweat glands for robots 16 terrorist, man accuses wife of being
tiny sheepdog 57 village painted blue 193, 193 liquor bottle made from 222 Swift, Taylor (U.S.A.) 180 245
Sheldon, Adam (U.K.) 10 snacks, unusual items 220 squirrel, cat adopts 63 swimming Terry, Jason (U.S.A.) 83
Shepherd, Ernestine (U.S.A.) 84, 84 snail, deep-sea 55 stalagmite, holy 45 around Manhattan Island 152 testicles, eating 214
Sheppard, John (U.S.A.) 112 snakes stamps, very large collection of 242 legless swimmer 81 Texas, cake in shape of 223
Sherrod, Allen (U.S.A.) 162 deer in python's stomach 243, 243 standing stones 36 oldest person to swim English text messages
Shi Xiaochun (Chn) 85 farming 38, 38 Stanescu, Rifca (Rom) 102 Channel152 number sent 166
Shields, Kevin (U.K.) 106 huge numbers on island 55 Stanford, Brett (Aus) 8o very young swimmer 141 very speedy 172
shipworms, eating 214, 214 living with poisonous 152 staples with polar bears 69, 69 Tezna, Tiffany (U.S.A.) 193, 193
shipwrecks, Titanic 132-5, 132-5 man tries to smuggle on airplane 28 from liver transplant made into swimming pools Thakur, Vi nod (lnd) 8o
shoes pulling through nose 17, 17 artwork 211 car falls into 129, 129 theater, actor in record number of
decorated with flowers 182 snake wine 214 model city made from 209 crocodile in 62 shows 188
giant 203 surviving by eating 217 Star Trek, Enterprise manual published swords Thomas, Barry (U.K.) 18
giant shoe a:; car 127 two-headed 57, 57 192 climbing ladder of 153, 153 Thompson, Melissa (U.K.) 172
race in stilettos 83 wedding 38 Star Wars removed from head 112 Thomson, Holly (U.K.) 120
shoplifting sneezing, causes injury 82 characters made from car parts 10, 10 swallowing 9, 9, 18, 23-5, 24, 147 Thorsson, Shawn (U.S.A.) 241
accused wears stolen coat at trial 232 Snoop Dogg (U.S.A.) 189 characters on coins 243 Sykes, Dave (U.K.) 162 Tibbs, Connie (U.S.A.) 71, 71
lobsters 236 snorkels, bog snorkeling contest 83 large collection of memorabilia 152 Szeto, Tim (U.S.A.) 209 ticks 119, 119
shopping carts, Christmas tree made snow LEGO® mosaic 203 tie, musical tie interrupts speech 188
of2o2 bus driver runs over snowman 176 Statue of Liberty, New York, feet 28 T-Rex, covered in Pop-Tart foil 6, 6 tigers
Short, Graham (U.K.) 200 in New Zealand 40 statues T-shirts blood popsicles for 68
shovels, guns transformed into 208 snowballs sold on eBay 171 of man directing traffic 136 enormous 161 wife saves husband from 68
Showalter, Jennifer (U.S.A.) 64 Snow, Elvira (U.S.A.) m, m model for Oscars 186 stuffing hot dogs into 224 Tijerina, Juan Ramirez (Mex) 234
shrimp snowboarding, video game causes stolen 42 table, car wreck in coffee table 136, Timberlake, Justin (U.S.A.) 170
enormous shrimp cocktail 219 accident 82 Steiner, Paul (Aut) 140, 140-1 136 tinfoil, giant ball of 211
very powerful sting 54 snowshoe race 90 Stekelenburg, Maarten (Nld) 86 tacos, long line of 219 Tiranarat, Ekkachai and Laksana (Tha)
Siad Barre, Mohamed (Som) 40 soap, eating 223 Stellitano, Andrew (U.K.) 219 tadpoles 160
Sidorova, Taisia (Rus) 99 soap operas, multiple deaths for Stepanian, Raffi (U.S.A.) 21 screaming 74 tires, dandelion-rubber 16
siesta competition 40 character 181 Stepney, Alex (U.K.) 83 smiling 74, 74 Titanic 132-5, 132-5
sign language, by monkeys 58 soccer Stevens, Jean (U.S.A.) 244 tai chi, by road sweeper 177 toads, roll down mountains 74
signs giant sushi mosaic 205 Stevens, Marty (U.S.A.) 65 tails toast
confusing 48 multinational match 90 Stewart, Benno (Aus) 216 calf with very long tail 64, 64 portrait of Albert Einstein 10, 10
disappearing street signs 18 team of imposters 87 Stigler, Franz (Ger) 22 dolphins "walk" on 59 portrait of Marilyn Monroe 202
large collection of city limits signs 35 trophies dropped from buses 86 stilettos, race in 83 removed from baby 106 toenails
letter "T'' stolen from 245 tweet rushes 170 Still, Matt (U.S.A.) 176 sharks with long 59 insects made from clippings 112, 112
Silvia, Queen of Sweden 224 Twitter users and 173 stilts, tightrope walking on 161 Talbot Society 28 very long 107, 107
Silviak, Paul m, 173 wearing multiple shirts 87 stir-fry, enormous 221 tank, drives over car 130, 130 toes
Simmons, Gene (U.S.A.) 184 socks Stogdale, Doris (U.K.) 226 tapestry, very large 205 ancient prostheses 96
Simon, Zolt<in (Hun) 203 dirty socks sold on eBay 171 stomach tapeworms 119, 119 dextrous 122
Singh, Gageen Preet (U.K.) 237 production of 182 cell phone rings in crocodile's 168 tarantula spiders, eating 214 dog eats 96
Singley, Amy (U.S.A.) 26 very long line of 150 gems smuggled in 20 taste buds, in lungs 103 extra 120

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• • •
painting with 203 twins waiters, robot 226 wife-carrying contest S3
transplanted to hand 96, 96 after having quadruplets 106 Waldo, mass gathering of 151, 151 Wigan, Willard (U.K.) • •• •
• • • I
two-toed tribe 23 conjoined 26, 27, 99, 194, 194 Walker, Jim and Mary (U.S.A.) 171 147-9, 147-9
-
toilet paper employed at pool 19 walking Wiggs, David (U.S.A.) 16S
rejected by The Beatles 1S
wacky website 170
multiple sets in class 2S
parasitic twin 106
around world 146
on water 142, 142
Wikipedia 192, 192
Wilkie, Joe (U.S.A.) 143
YouTube (cont.)
pets on 173 :::
toilets
exploding 242
in three generations 105
twins restaurant 224
underwater 143
Waller, Matt (Aus) 1So
William, Prince of Wales (U.K.)
banana sculpture of 226
popular clips 176-7, 176-7
posting videos on 172
c.
man's arm stuck in train toilet 232
museum of 152
very common in town 44
woman gives birth to six sets of 120
walls
climbing into castle 40, 40
corgi-shaped cake for 227
wedding kiss 16S
statistics 166
successful short film 174
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race on S3 Twitter high wall protects village 36 Williams, Benji (U.S.A.) 141, 141 Yu Yanping (Chn) 6o
Yudhoyono, Susilo Bambang (ldn) 4S
)(
toilet seat throwing SS, 88 huge number of followers 166 legless man climbs So Williams, Joey (U.S.A.) 241
urine-controlled video games 16S pets on 173 Wang Kang (Chn) 192 Williams, Serena (U.S.A.) S3 yule log, very long 221
tomatoes, wacky website 170 soccer final 173 Wang Qianjin (Chn) 193 Willis, Tom (U.S.A.) So
Tomkins, Joy {U.K.) 241 statistics 166 Wang Tao (Chn) 109 Wilson, Reuben (Aus) 169, 169 Zahawi, Nadhim (U.K.) 1SS
tongue tweet rushes 170 Wang Tianqing (Chn) 122 Wilton, Lauren (Can) 23 Zakharia, Moussa (Leb) 226
bifurcated 143-5, 144 Tyson, Mike (U.S.A.) S3 Wang Yongjun (Chn) 109, 109 windows Zarate, Lucia (Mex) 97, 97
eating duck tongues 21S, 218 Ward, Rachel (U.K.) 20S imprint of owl on 2S, 28 zebra, keeper wears striped T-shirt 63
surgically lengthened 102 U2 1S2, 1S7 Warren, Anne (Nzl) 10S palace windows never Zhang Bin (Chn) 112
very long 103, 103 UFO detector, sold on eBay 171 washing machine, kitten survives in 61 opened42 Zhang Jin (Chn) 22
tonsils, enormous 102 underwater washroom, stolen 245 sleepwalking out of 20S Zhang Nan (Chn) 10S, 108
toothbrush, in stomach 10S, 108 card game 141 W.A.S.P. 1S5 wine Zhang Wei (Chn) 150, 150
toothpick model, of Queen Mary 200 escapologist 143 Waspe, Graham (U.K.) 57 dog tests 66 Zhang Xijiang (Chn) 103
tornadoes frogman unable to swim 22 watches eating fish with 225 Zhang Xiufang (Chn) 177
dog survives 66 honeymoon suite 40 case made from fossil dung 235 expensive accidents 217, 221 Zhang Zongqiang (Chn) 20
large number of 4S long stay 162 fish swallows 70 snake wine 214 Zhao Huaiyun (Chn) 74
Torrance, Sam {U.K.) S2 river 4S water very expensive 216, 227 Zhao Xi nyu (Chn) 26
Tors, Ivan (U.S.A.) 57 volcanoes 41 broken fire hydrant floods street 1S wine glass, enormous 226 Zhao Yufang (Chn) S5
tortoises walking 143 walking on 142, 142 Winehouse, Amy (U.K.) 1S4, 184 Zhu, Mr. (Chn) 239, 239
man tries to smuggle on airplane 2S wedding 19 watermelons, exploding 217 wingsuit, jumping from mountain Zhu Baobing (Chn) 160, 160
two-headed 64 wedding in shark tank 16 Watkins, Jim (U.S.A.) 63 with 163 Zhu Xinping (Chn) 107
very old 63 underwear Watson, Douglas (U.K.) 21, 21 wire, large ball of copper 150 Zivalic, Jade (U.S.A.) 173
wheel replaces leg 6S as artwork 200 Watson, John (U.S.A.) 171 Wishart, Jock (U.K.) 162 zombies 46-7
totem pole, gigantic 35 kangaroo steals 70 Waul, Joel {U.S.A.) 141 wolves, scared off by heavy metal mass gathering of 151
Tournier, Marcel (S.A.) 53, 53 protest in 23 wax, figure of boxer 90, 90 music 1S2 warnings on road signs 16S, 168
towns subway commuters 236 weather, very young reporter 1S6 wombat, huge skeleton of 16 zoo, Michael Jackson's 1S5
border runs through 242 unicycles, playing football on S5 Webley, Jason 194, 194 Wong Ting Man (Chn) 203 Zumaya, Joel (U.S.A.) S3
bought on eBay 16S Upadhyaya, Dinesh Shivnath (lnd) websites wood, fish eats 69 Zuokas, Arturas (Lit) 130, 130
toy trains, very large collection of 163 142, 142 statistics 166 Wood, Robert (U.K.) 2oS
tractor, swan obsessed with 53 Upton, David (U.S.A.) 23 wacky 170 Woods, Nick {U.K.) 219
trains urine Wechselberger, Ronny (Ger) 136 Woodward, Sam (U.K.) 127
high-speed 126 astronauts drink 217 weddings Wordsworth, William {U.K.) 171
medical benefits of railway tracks cooking eggs in 217, 217 bubble wrap dress 1SS worms
20, 20 very smelly 104 cake is model of bride 223 fall from sky 3S
monkeys as station masters 5S Usher, ian (Aus) 170 candy wedding dresses 193, 193 parasitic 11S-19, 118-19
runs through market 126, 126-7 in cave 2S wounds
termites cause crash 72 vacations, in dangerous places 42 in cemetery 22 glow blue 96
very crowded 126 Vagadia, Nikunj (lnd) 192 corgi-shaped cake for royal wedding man sews himself up 106
very large collection of toy 163 Vail, Richard Burton (Can) 244 227 wrestling
very long 20 .-: Valotta, Alberto (U.K.) 216 couple born at same time 26 in gravy S3
very long model 2oo vampires couple photographed as elderly 22 one-legged champion So
transplants congress of exorcists 23S "crying marriages" 41 with crocodiles 36
double hand transplant 107 vampire hunting kit sold on eBay diggers as transport 20 Wright, Calvin (U.S.A.) 120
staples from liver transplant made 171, 171 for dogs 66 Wright, Jay (U.S.A.) 36
into artwork 211 Vampire Woman 11, 11, 99-101, dress made from parachute 1S1 wristwatch, case made from fossil
treadmill, running marathon on 161 99-101 during marathon 23 dung 235
trees Van Bastolaer, Raimana (Tah) S7, 87 family tradition 234 writing
chapels in hollow trunk 36, 36 Van Gogh, Vincent (Nld) huge number of roses bought for 19 giant calligraphy 211
chopstick sculpture 2oS artist transforms himself into 205 multiple marriages 234 handless boy 120
crooked 4S, 48 knitted painting 203 for pythons 3S symbols 3S
dog chases mountain lion up 6S Van Halen 1S4 royal kiss 16S with feet m, m
gigantic totem pole 35 Van Vliet, Don (U.S.A.) 1So in shark tank 16 Wu Di (Chn) 22
house built in 42 Vanneque, Christian (Fra) 216 shoes decorated with flowers 1S2 Wu Moude (Chn) 10S
living bridges 34, 34 Varalakshmi, Pinnitla (lnd) 245 underwater 19 Wu Zhilong (Chn) 109
man lives in house in 4S vase, very valuable 209 vending machine for 20
woman falls asleep in 236 vegetarians, body piercings 42-3, 43 very long veil 234, 234 Xiang Zhen (Chn) 129, 129
Treves, Dr. Frederick (U.K.) 116 Vendera, Jaime (U.S.A.) 10S woman marries herself 22 Xiao Wang (Chn) 19
Trichan, Kann (Tha) 113, 113 Verma, Surendra Kumar (lnd) 201 Weddle, Gary (U.S.A.) 102 Xie Guanghai (Chn) 141
tricycles Verene, Richard (U.S.A.) 239 Wei Jian (Chn) 22 Xiong Yuhu (Chn) 42
car transported on 127, 127 Vidal, Corey (Can) 172 Weigart, Sgt. Horace (U.S.A.) 235 Xu Ming (Chn) 5S
powered by electric screwdrivers 127 video games weights Xu Tiancheng (Chn) 140, 140
triplets, multiple sets in class 2S Angry Birds 174-5, 174-5 carrying on chin 160, 160 Xu Yuehua (Chn) So
trombone, as flamethrower 173 boy designs iPhone apps 172 lifting with eye sockets 102
trucks child's high score 172 pulling fire trucks 163, 163 Yamada, Keisuke (Jap) 226, 226
car stops runaway 130 simulation of city 174 pulling with stomach muscles 109 Yang Xi (Chn) 22
crashes through wall 12S, 128 snowboarding accident S2 wife-carrying contest S3 Yang Zhichao (Chn) 99, 99, 210
driving car under 136, 136 success in 175 Weiss, Brad (U.S.A.) S6 Yao Zenni (Chn) 22
driving on ice 36 urine-controlled 16S Welch, Andy (U.K.) 169, 169 yawning, dislocates jaw 120
falls through bridge 131 very large collection of 173 well, boy and cat fall into 112 Ye Yuzi (Chn) 20
fire truck driven round world 136 videos, on YouTube 172 Wells, Tommy (U.K.) 120 Ye Zixu (Chn) 232
GPS strands on mountain 166, 166 vinegar, drinking 216 Wendel, Johnathan "Fatality" 175 Yi Ci (Chn) 200
pulling 163, 163 Vogel, John and Nancy (U.S.A.) 38-9, 39 Wendell, Turk (U.S.A.) S3 Yi Guofang (Chn) 217
Tshering, Perna (Bhu) 205 voice, breaking glass with 1oS Werner, Justin (U.S.A.) 102 yo-yo, very long string 141
tsunami, fishing boat survives 36 Voigt, Chris (U.S.A.) 216 whales yoga
Tsykalov, Dimitri (Rus) 215, 215 volcanoes found in field 1S elderly teacher 102
Tuazon, Deney (U.S.A.) 173 boarding down S5, 85 long-distance migration 55 very young teacher 122
tumors creation of islands 4S sounds turned into artworks 20S Yoneyama, Yuki (Jap) 74
enormous 122 sulfur mine 36 wheelchair, bank robber in 23 YouTube
removed from baby in womb 106 underwater 41 Wheeler, Steve (U.K.) 150 baseball caught in popcorn bucket 172
tuna, very expensive 221 vomit art 205-7, 205-7 whiskey/whisky "Batmanning" 175
tunnels, under house 42 Vonn, Lindsey (U.S.A.) S5 Jack Daniel's birthday celebrated 225 cat on 174
Turner, Duncan (U.K.) 1SS Voodoo 46-7, 46-7 very expensive 219 fast flight on 172
turtle, figure eight-shaped shell 61 vultures, fail as sniffer dogs 242 whistling language 42 frisbee catch on 174

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Page 4 (tic) Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP/Getty Images, (t/r} James Holm dahl, (b/l} Bigfoot Hostel, Nicaragua, (b/r} Reuters/Sukree Sukplang; 5 (t/r} Phyllis Keating, (c) Sean E. Avery, (c/l} © Hideto Nagatsuka/Solent News (r)
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corrected in future editions.

Atlantic City Grand Prairie Myrtle Beach San Francisco

N EW JERSEY TEXAS SOUTH CAROLINA CALIFORNIA

Baltimore Guadalajara New York City St. Augustine

MARYLAND MEXICO N EW YORK FLORIDA

Bangalore Hollywood Newport Surfers Paradise

INDIA CALIFORNIA OREGON AU STRALIA

Blackpool Jackson Hole Niagara Falls Williamsburg

EN GLAND WYO M I N G CANADA VIRG I N IA

Branson Jeju Island Ocean City Wisconsin Dells

M I S S O U RI SOUTH KOREA MARYLAND WI S C O N S I N

Cavendish Key West Orlando

CANADA FLORIDA FLORIDA

Copenhagen London Panama City Beach

D E N MARK ENGLAND FLORIDA

Gatlinburg Mexico City Pattaya

TENNESSEE MEXICO THAILAND

Genting Highlands Veracruz San Antonio

MALAYSIA MEXICO TEXAS

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