As the year comes to a close, we are taking an in-depth look at all the moments that defined 2019, namely the record-breaking milestones that took place in the US.
Of all the landmark achievements that occurred during this revolution around the sun, a few key moments truly highlighted the interests and trends of the time.
From Jennifer Aniston breaking Instagram to massively large grapefruits, here’s what American-based titles really took off this year.
Heaviest grapefruit
Douglas and Mary Beth Meyer from Slidell, Louisiana, USA, had no idea what they had on their hands when they pulled a grapefruit from their tree on 19 January 2019. As it turns out, the story went viral after we confirmed they had the world’s heaviest grapefruit, weighing in at a whopping 3.590 kg (7 lb 14 oz). At a circumference of 28.75 inches around, it compares to the size of a regular basketball. What a way to kick off the year!
Largest horn spread on a living steer
A seven-year-old Texas longhorn from Alabama, USA, made a splash in the media this year thanks to his humongous horns. From tip to tip, the rack of Poncho Via spans 323.74 cm (10 ft 7.4 in) – more than twice the width of a concert grand piano – as confirmed on 8 May 2019. It means that this superlative steer not only possesses the largest horn spread on a living steer, but has blown all past contenders out of the water to claim the record for largest horn spread on a steer ever too. Since confirming the record, Poncho has been quite the local celebrity in his small town of Goodwater, AL.
Fastest time to travel to all sovereign nations
2019 was the year of travel, particularly for record holders Taylor Demonbreun and Lexie Alford. In June, Taylor broke four incredibly impressive travel records for being the fastest time to visit all sovereign nations (overall and female) as well as the youngest to travel to all sovereign nations (overall and female). This record is quite a difficult one to achieve, as it requires significant documentation and coordination. Nonetheless, the youngest title was broken again in November, by world traveler Lexie Alford after completing the feat at the age of 21 years and 177 days. While both had very different journeys along the way, both title holders were set on encouraging young women to travel and accomplish their dreams!
Cam Newton and Mr. Beast shatter football records
The Caroline Panthers announced three Guinness World Records title’s broken by Pro Bowl quarterback Cam Newton on 3 September 2019 in partnership with well-known YouTuber Mr. Beast. This announcement was aligned with the kick-off of NFL Season and the launch of the Guinness World Records 2020 Edition. During the YouTube episode, Cam managed to set records for most one-handed American football catches in one minute, farthest blindfolded catch of an American football while in motion, and longest American football pass caught between the legs (team of two) making for quite the kick off ahead of football season.
Week of record-breaking on Live with Kelly and Ryan
As mentioned, the new Guinness World Records 2020 Edition launched in early September, and to mark the big day we continued with another week of record-breaking fun on Live with Kelly and Ryan! Several records made headlines from the action-packed attempts that took place on set, including Jennifer Lopez, Ashton Kutcher, and Kim Kardashian receiving their official certificates for their Guinness World Records titles! On the streets outside the studio, hundreds of ballerinas lined up to achieve the record for most ballet dancers en pointe simultaneously while talk show hosts Kelly and Ryan frosted cupcakes and conducted science experiments in order to achieve new records! We’re pumped to see which titles make a debut for next year’s Record Breaker Week.
Highest-charting holiday (Christmas/New Year) song on the Billboard US Hot 100 by a solo artist
2019 ended with some of the merriest records for music star Mariah Carey – who’s iconic Christmas song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” broke three festive Guinness World Records titles. To mark the occasion, we surprised Mariah on set of her Las Vegas holiday show by presenting her with her official certificate. The Christmas classic also broke the record for the most streamed track on Spotify in 24 hours (female) with 10,819,009 streams in December 2018 and most weeks in the UK singles Top 10 chart for a Christmas song with 20 titles – making it a very celebratory way to end the year!
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