1. The world’s longest legs
Svetlana Pankratova owns the longest legs in the world. Her pins stretch to a lengthy 132cm. Mr Pingping, the world’s smallest man pictured with Svetlana above, barely came up to Ms Pankratova’s knees at this photoshoot held to mark the launch of the new Guinness Book of World Records.
2. Noorsyaidah, Metal Wires Growing in Body
Metal wires about 10-20 cm long grow from a woman’s body! Childcare worker, Noorsyaidah, from Indonesia, claims metal wires have been growing out of her body for 20 years. Protruding from her chest and belly, they initially kept snapping off and disappearing then, a month later, they grew back and now continue to get longer and longer until Noorsyaidah’s sister trims them.
3. Old Dutch woman who swallowed 78 cutlery items
Surgeons were flabbergasted when X-rays showed 78 items of cutlery in 52-year-old, Margaret Daalman’s stomach. After seeing her scan the estate agent’s secretary who had been complaining of belly ache, said: “I don’t know why but I felt an urge to eat the silverware – I couldn’t help myself.”
4. Modified Madam La Negra with horns, tattoos, scarification, piercings and a split tongue
La Negra is a poster girl for modified madams. She has horns, tattoos, scarification, piercings and a split tongue. But, despite her appearance, the Argentinian mother-of-one meets with little disapproval from parents at the school gates and says she ‘couldn’t care less’ what others think of her freaky fetish.
5. Still too young… 130 years old Sakhan Dosova – the world’s most oldest
At 130-years-young, Sakhan Dosova, from Kazakhstan is believed to be the oldest living person in the world – beating her nearest rival by 16 years. The VIP OAP believes her longevity is all thanks to her sense of humour, staying away from sweets and the doctor.
6. The world’s longest hair
The world’s longest documented hair belongs to Xie Qiuping from China at 5.627 m (18 ft 5.54 in) when measured on May 8, 2004. She has been growing her hair since 1973 from the age of 13 and has no plans to book into Vidal Sassoon for this season’s pixie cut any time soon.
7. The world’s smallest waist
Cathie Jung’s waist is about the same size as a regular jar of mayonnaise (less than 15in). The Connecticut housewife says she’s been wearing a corset every day for the past 12 years and she now wears one 24 hours a day. “I probably have around 100 of them,” she says. Eat your heart out Miss Von Teese.
8. The world’s longest nails
Lee Redmond from the US, has not cut her nails since 1979, growing and carefully manicuring them to reach a total length of 8.65 m (28 ft 4.5 in) as measured on the set of Lo Show Dei Record in Spain on 23 February 2008. And, most bizarrely of all? She’s a hairdresser!
9. The world’s longest tongue
German schoolgirl Annika Irmler has licked up a place in the Guinness Book of Records with her whopping seven centimetre tongue. She commented: “My friends always said I had an incredibly long tongue – I could make lots of money with it one day.”
10. The world’s most pierced
By August 9, 2001, Elaine Davidson from Edinburgh, had a record-breaking total of 720 piercings. She first broke the record in May 2000, when a Guinness World Records official examined her and found 462 piercings on various parts of her body, including 192 on her facial area alone.
