Is your proposal a potential Guiness World Records™ record?

A 'first' is not necessarily a record. Records are, by definition, feats that are breakable, measurable and comparable. Because firsts do not meet these criteria, we don’t generally recognize them as records. At our discretion we do make occasional exceptions to this rule, but only for feats which are, in our opinion, of international and lasting historical significance. Examples of such feats include the first man on the Moon, and the first successful ascent of Mt Everest.

Such firsts are also 'absolute', meaning that we will not generally consider firsts that are qualified in any way. Thus, for example, while we recognize the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic in a fixed-wing aircraft, we do not recognize the first such flight in various classes of fixed-wing aircraft.

Examples of firsts that we will not recognize:
First British woman to walk to the North Pole
First trans-Pacific flight in an aircraft weighing less than 500 kg
First person to travel around Times Square on a unicycle

Examples of firsts that we recognize:
First woman to walk to the North Pole
First trans-Pacific flight
First colour television broadcast

All our world records are based on a quantifiable element, such as speed, length, monetary value, etc. However, uniqueness is not something that can be quantified and for this reason having a unique talent is not in itself a record. However, if your talent is interesting or exciting and can be easily quantified in some way, we may consider it for recognition in a new world record category.

Similarly, the fact that you are the only person to do something, or to have done something, is not a record in itself. A record is, by definition, an achievement that can be exceeded or broken. However, if you are the only person who is able to do something it is impossible for someone else to challenge (i.e. break) your achievement.

Examples of proposals we do not accept:
Elbow licking
Staring at the sun
Double jointed fingers

All our world records are based on a quantifiable element, such as speed, length, value, etc. However, uniqueness is not something that can be quantified and for this reason we do not base any records on uniqueness. Records have to be breakable, measurable and comparable, e.g. tallest, fastest, heaviest, etc., and tend to have arisen as a result of a great deal of (usually international) interest and competition. A unique object, by definition, cannot have been the subject of competition, nor can it be the largest, fastest, tallest etc. of a class of object, since it is the only object in its class.

Examples of proposals we do not accept:
Most unique car
Only cow with three legs

Examples of records we do accept:
Longest car
Cow with the longest horns

With most of our records, we do not make any distinction between the various ages of claimants. The reason is that if we published records specifically for, for example, people in their 20s, we would also have to publish a version of that record for people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, etc. Unfortunately it would simply not be physically possible for us to publish all these age-specific variations on every one of our existing records, and for this reason we only publish a single, overall record for any feat, regardless of the age of the person to achieve it.

We do monitor records for the oldest or youngest people to achieve certain feats of universal interest, such as oldest person to climb Mount Everest, or the oldest person to walk on the wing of an airborne aircraft. However, because it is not possible for us to publish oldest and youngest-person-to variations for every one of our existing records, such records are the exception rather than the rule.

We do not generally consider any 'youngest-person-to' records where the age of the participants is limited by licensing or other legal requirements. For instance, in most countries the youngest age at which someone can legally drive is limited by law, and it is not unusual for people to obtain their driving licence on the day they become eligible (i.e. their birthday).

Examples of proposals that we will not accept:
Most sit ups by a twelve year old
Fastest marathon by a pensioner
Strongest child in the world
Youngest solo pilot

Examples of records we do accept:
Oldest person to run a marathon
Oldest driver
Youngest person to climb Mt Everest
Youngest solo trans-Atlantic Sailor

It is not possible for us to recognize national or parochial (country or region-specific) records. There are nearly 200 independent countries in the world, and you will understand that it is simply not possible for us to list 200 national records for every one of the world records we currently recognize. We therefore only publish an absolute or overall world record in each category that is not dependent on the nationality of the person who set it.

Similarly, we do not classify any of our records according to the race, ethnic background or religion of the person setting them.

Examples of proposals we do not accept:
Fastest Englishman to climb Mt Everest
Fastest run across North America by an African-American
Most sit ups by a Christian

As a work of general reference we must include records on as many subjects as are likely to interest our readers. This means that we are unable to publish more than a handful of records for any particular subject or type of feat, and we tend to focus on absolute or overall records rather than those that are qualified in some way. For example, for the 100 m sprint we publish only the absolute men’s and women’s records, but cannot publish 100 m records for juniors, veterans, seniors, or runs at altitude or on various types of road surface. Nor can we publish all the various national 100 m sprint records.

For this reason, we are unable to recognize any records that are based on disability. Disabilities are extremely complex and disabled sports associations operate intricate classification systems to ensure that every disabled athlete competes against other athletes with a comparable degree of disability. This results in several records for every disabled sporting event. However, for the reasons outlined above we are simply not able to publish multiple records for any particular feat.

For medical conditions, we may consider records about that particular condition. For example, we have records for the longest time someone has survived after receiving a heart transplant, and for the person who has endured the largest number of operations. However, we do not base any records for physical feats on the fact that someone suffers from a particular medical condition. Thus we would not consider a record for the fastest ascent of Mt Everest by someone with a pacemaker, or the fastest marathon by someone who has received a kidney transplant. The reason is simply that there is a massive number of medical conditions, and if we recognized Mt Everest ascent records for people with each one of these conditions, we could fill an entire book with what is essentially one record.

Examples of proposals we do not accept:
Longest sailboat journey by a paraplegic
Climbing Everest after triple heart bypass surgery
Fastest marathon with a broken foot

Whilst we do recognise records that fall within broad record categories such as largest painting and longest poem ever published, unfortunately, owing to the very subjective nature of art and poetry and the difficulty of even defining “art”, most potential claims for these areas will not be considered. For instance, a 'painting' could feasibly consist of anything from a single brush stroke on a canvas to a detailed, realistic oil painting. Clearly, it would not be possible or meaningful to compare such works with one another for record purposes. We frequently receive requests to set a record for the most paintings done in a set time, but because it is not possible to compare paintings with one another, it is not meaningful to award a record on the basis of the number of paintings completed.

We cannot consider any claims for the shortest poem. There are many who claim to have written "poems" consisting of little more than a punctuation mark or a single word. Even if we were to concede that these were indeed poems, there is no way for any such record to be broken because poems cannot come any shorter.

Examples of proposals we do not accept:
Most paintings in a month
Fastest time to write a poem
Most detailed painting
Longest poem with every line starting with the letter 'o'

Examples of records we do accept:
Longest published poem
Largest painting by numbers
Most valuable painting

Regrettably, we no longer consider any claims for heaviest or lightest pets. We appreciate that the welfare of the pet would be, in the majority of cases, at the forefront of the owner's mind. We had, however, become increasingly concerned that owners would potentially be encouraged to over or under feed their pets in the quest for recognition. Therefore, to avoid any undue suffering to any animal, we have ended our interest in such records.

In addition, we are unable to monitor separate categories for different breeds, only absolute records such as 'longest ever dog' and 'oldest cat living'. This is because there are literally hundreds of different breeds of each type of animal, but it is not possible for us to list separate records for each one.

Examples of proposals we do not accept:
Largest Chihuahua litter
Fattest hamster
Most Alsatians walked in one day
Oldest bull terrier

Examples of records we do accept:
Oldest dog living
Smallest living domestic cat (length)
Largest guinea pig litter

Records for driving between two cities, across continents, around countries, around the world etc. in the least amount of time are essentially races against the clock. You will understand that we simply cannot endorse records that encourage driving at ever-increasing speeds on public roads. For this reason we no longer recognize any records that involve driving against the clock on public roads in motorised vehicles of any kind (this includes motorcycles, and vehicles with a theoretical upper speed limit).

As a general rule, we no longer consider any records for the smallest examples of everyday objects. The reason is that, in our experience, with all such records there comes a point where the objects in question are so small that it becomes impossible to judge whether they are indeed accurate renditions of the objects they represent.

However, we may consider records for small objects which have a function which can be objectively observed. For instance, we would consider a record for the smallest remotely controlled model aircraft because its flight can be observed. In addition, we may consider claims for small objects which are at the cutting edge of technology (for example, nanotechnology).

Examples of proposals we do not accept:
Smallest handwriting
Smallest teddy bear
Smallest doll’s house

Examples of records we do accept:
Smallest remotely controlled submarine
Smallest transistor
Smallest hard disk drive
Smallest printing of the Bible

We do consider records for the largest scaled-up versions of everyday objects. However, we stipulate that such objects must be made from exactly the same materials as their regular-sized counterparts, and must resemble their regular-sized counterparts in every detail as well as being in the correct proportions. In addition, the large articles must function in the same way as their regular-sized counterparts.

For example, the largest acoustic guitar must be made of wood with steel strings and fittings, and must be capable of producing a sound when one of its strings is ‘plucked’. The largest pair of jeans must be made of denim and have metal buttons or a zip that are of an appropriate size in relation to the size of the jeans.

Guinness World Records no longer accepts any records relating to chain letters or similar variations sent by post or e-mail. This is due to extensive problems following a previous record attempt.

This is not something we can accept as a new record as each country has its own education system and within each country, each academic institution has its own methods for awarding qualifications. This also applies to professional qualifications as each governing body has different criteria on which their awards are based.

In addition we no longer monitor nation-specific records and therefore records that relate to a particular country’s education system.

With this in mind, there can be no fair and justifiable standard upon which to base a world record.

Examples of proposals we would not accept:
Most law degrees
Most Masters degrees
Most A-levels at A* grade
Youngest person to pass their High School Diploma

We do accept:
Oldest graduate
Most graduates in a single family