1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,720 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 1: show that flips through the pages of history to deliver 4 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: old news in a new way. I'm Gabeluesier, and today 5 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: we're examining the chain of events that turned an Irish 6 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 1: beer brewery into the most trusted name in world record keeping. 7 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:37,879 Speaker 1: The day was August twenty seventh, nineteen fifty five. The 8 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: first copies of the Guinness Book of Records were printed 9 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: and distributed for free in pubs across England and Ireland. 10 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: A clever bit of marketing on the part of the 11 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: Guinness Brewery, the book was billed as a way to 12 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: help settle friendly disagreements among patrons. It proved so popular 13 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: that many copies went missing from their home pubs, prompting 14 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: Guinness to begin selling the book later that fall. The 15 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: first commercial edition of the Guinness Book of Records was 16 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: released in early October, and by Christmas time it had 17 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,119 Speaker 1: become a best seller. Known today as the Guinness World 18 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: Records Book, the now annual publication is distributed in more 19 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: than one hundred countries, where it continues to help settle 20 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: bets and end arguments among trivia buffs of all ages. 21 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 1: The book's origin story began with an Irish hunting trip 22 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty one. On an unknown day that November, 23 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: the managing director of Guinness Brewery, Sir Hugh Beaver, was 24 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: out shooting with some friends in County Wexford, Ireland. The 25 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: group tried and failed to bag a game bird known 26 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: as the Golden plover, and the embarrassing miss led Beaver 27 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: to conclude that the plover must be the fastest game 28 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: bird in all of Europe. Other members of the party 29 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: disagreed with him, but after scouring through Beaver's extensive home library, 30 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: they were unable to find a definitive answer one way 31 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: or the other. The inability to settle this debate nod 32 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: at Sir Beaver, and he knew he probably wasn't the 33 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: first to feel that way. Similar arguments were surely playing 34 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: out every night in the same Irish and British pubs 35 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: where Guinness beer was served. With that realization in mind, 36 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: Beaver decided to help out his patrons and promote his 37 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: business by providing a trusted resource for fact based answers 38 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: right there in the bar. British runner and future politician 39 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: Chris Chataway happened to work for Guinness at the time, 40 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: and he put Beaver in touch with two of his 41 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:48,799 Speaker 1: old university friends, twin brothers, Norris and Ross mcwherder. They 42 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: had both sprinted with Chataway at Oxford and had since 43 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: founded a London based fact finding agency that provided information 44 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: and statistics to newspapers. In September of ninth, teen fifty four, 45 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 1: the mcworders were invited to discuss the proposition of compiling 46 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: a book of records for publication. According to company legend, 47 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,639 Speaker 1: the Guinness board tested the brother's knowledge by asking them 48 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: to name the language with the fewest irregular verbs. They 49 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: immediately gave the correct response, which is Turkish, and were 50 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: duly commissioned on the spot. What the brothers signed up 51 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:29,079 Speaker 1: for was no easy task. First, they had to identify all, 52 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: or at least most, of the questions that seemed most 53 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: likely to come up in a social setting, and then, 54 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: for the truly tricky part, they had to hunt down 55 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: all the correct answers. To do this, the mcworders corresponded 56 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: with experts in a variety of fields, from astrophysics to zoology. Then, 57 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: once their extensive fact gathering mission was complete, the brothers 58 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: wrote up all their findings. That final phase of the 59 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 1: project was the most intensive. It took thirteen and ns 60 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: and half ninety hour weeks, including weekends, to put all 61 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: the various records together. Finally, on August twenty seventh, nineteen 62 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: fifty five, the very first copies of the Guinness Book 63 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: of Records were printed, bound and given away free of charge. Initially, 64 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: Guinness produced just fifty thousand copies of the slim one 65 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: hundred ninety eight page volume, which had supplied to pubs 66 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: throughout Ireland and Britain. In an impressive display of forethought, 67 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: the book's covers were made waterproof to help guard them 68 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: against the inevitable spills, but alas there was no way 69 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,239 Speaker 1: to protect them from being stolen by customers. The growing 70 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: calls for replacement copies convinced Guinness that what had started 71 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: out as glorified marketing material might actually have retail possibilities. 72 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: The editors got right back to work, and on October third, 73 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five, the Guinness Book of Records appeared on 74 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: store shelf in the UK for the first time, following 75 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 1: swift sales through the holiday season. In American edition of 76 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,839 Speaker 1: the book was released the following year. It was quickly 77 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: followed by editions for a host of other countries, and 78 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 1: pretty soon the mcwerders found themselves traveling the globe to 79 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: research and verify new records. The brothers would continue to 80 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: edit and consult on new editions of the book for 81 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,039 Speaker 1: the rest of their lives. In nineteen seventy four, the 82 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: Guinness Record Book hit a milestone when it became the 83 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 1: top selling copyright book in history, allegedly outsold only by 84 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: the Bible, the Quran and Chairman Mao's Little Read Book. 85 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 1: In two thousand one, the owners of Guinness decided to 86 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: sell off all assets not directly related to the brewery, 87 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: including the rights to the world's foremost record book. The 88 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: new owner was allowed to continue using the iconic Guinness name, 89 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: but the title was tweaked ever so slightly from the 90 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: Guinness Book of Records to simply Guinness World Records, which 91 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: it's still called today. Over the last seven decades, a 92 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: new edition of the book has been released just about 93 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: every year, both to update records that have been broken 94 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: and to report on all new ones. The scope of 95 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: the records has also grown remarkably broad in that time, 96 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: covering achievements in sports, engineering, science and technology, arts and entertainment, 97 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: as well as a host of strangely specific superlatives. For instance, 98 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: there are records for the world's largest kidney stone, which 99 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: is five point two six inches by four point one 100 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: five inches, and for the most jelly eaten with chopsticks 101 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: in one minute, which is one pound six ounces. Every 102 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: claim submitted to Guinness, no matter how ridiculous, is meticulously 103 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: checked and authenticated by an in house team. The company 104 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: receives about a thousand of these applications every week, but 105 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,480 Speaker 1: the vast majority, about ninety two per cent of them 106 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: are rejected due to a lack of evidence. A handful 107 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: of records have also been retired over the years due 108 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 1: to ethical concerns, including heaviest pet and most hamburgers eaten 109 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: in a single sitting. And while many records are frequently broken, 110 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: like most tennis balls held in one hand or oldest 111 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: living person, there are others, like Elon Musk's largest loss 112 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 1: of personal Fortune, that most people would rather not break. Amazingly, 113 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: there are even a few records still standing from the 114 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: book's first edition way back in nineteen fifty five. For example, 115 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:50,239 Speaker 1: the highest grossing movie adjusted for inflation, is still Gone 116 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: with the Wind with just under three and a half 117 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: billion dollars. The Guinness Book itself is also a world 118 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: record holder, with more than one hundred and fifty million 119 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: copies sold since nineteen fifty five, it's the best selling 120 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: annual publication in history. Oh and in case you're curious, 121 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: the question of Europe's fastest game bird was never taken 122 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: up by Guinness, as the book focuses purely on world records. 123 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: The most likely answer, though, according to Guinness, is the 124 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: red breasted merganser, which has a recorded level flying speed 125 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: of eighty one miles per hour. That makes the merganser 126 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: the fastest game bird in the world, and, since Europe 127 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: is one of its native habitats, the fastest there as well. 128 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: I'm Gay, Blues Gay, and hopefully you now know a 129 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:50,440 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. If 130 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: you'd like to keep up with the show, you can 131 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, 132 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free 133 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: to send them my way by writing to This Day 134 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to kazb Bias for producing 135 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see 136 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another day in history class.