Eighth Guinness World Record Day Inspires Wacky, Weird And Downright Astonishing Attempts!

In 2004, the Guinness World Records book entered its own name in the book as the World's bestselling copyright book. To commemorate this momentous achievement, the company established a Guinness World Record Day - A 24-hour period during which people from all over the world can try break their own records. On November 15th, over 420,000 people took up the challenge and as you have probably guessed the record attempts ranged from simply amazing to downright wacky.

Among the record hopefuls were 400,000 students from various schools in Southern United States - All hoping to break the record for the most number of people simultaneously 'sport stacking' or building paper cup pyramids in a predetermined sequence, as fast they could.

Then there were the 28 limber women in Sussex, England that managed to somehow squeeze into a Mini Hatch Cooper breaking the record set by 27 equally lithe dancers in New York , last year. In addition to getting themselves into the record books, the women also raised money for a children's charity.

Italian chocolatier Alberto Deleonardis had a similar idea with his giant confectionary coin that doubled up as a fund raising effort to rebuild an elementary school in Bolgona, which collapsed in an earthquake, earlier this year.

In Germany, Michael Kopp broke the record for the spinning a basketball on a toothbrush for a full 26.078 seconds, while US resident Tone Staubs established a new record for the most jumps on a Pogo stick in a minute - 265 in all!

Among the most stunning was Japan's Hiroyone Senmaida rice paddies. Lit up with over 200,000 LED lights the terraced land that is still manually farmed, looked out of this world against the backdrop of the azure Japan Sea.

Also a sight to behold were the gorgeous 2,639 sari-clad women in Mumbai, India, attempting the largest synchronized performance of the Kaikottikali, a traditional dance from the Southern State of Kerala.

Among the bizarre was Kenichi ito's attempt to be the 'fastest man on four legs' with his 100-meter dash on all fours - Something the Japanese athlete managed to do in 17.47 seconds, shaving off a full second off his previous record.

However, the wackiest of them all was the one attempted by England's 'iron Man' Manjit Singh who attempted to lift 51lbs with just his eye sockets! The things people do to get their five minutes of fame!

Resources: Huffingtonpost.com,dailymail.co.uk,theprovince.com,reuters.com