The most appearances as a captain in World Cup finals is 16 by Diego Maradona, who led Argentina in finals games from 1982 to 1994.

The most wins of the FITA (Fédération Internationale de Tir à l’Arc) Archery World Cup in the Men’s Compound event is two, by Sergio Pagni (Italy) in 2009 and 2010.

5.23 million attacks were recorded during eWeek’s 17 day-long Openhack III competition, in which the latest security software, Pitbull, from Argus Systems Group Inc. was probed for weaknesses by the hacking community. Despite the offered prize of $50,000, not one hacker was able to penetrate Pitbull. The previous two Openhack competitions tested earlier software from Argus, which was successfully penetrated both times. The purpose of Openhack is to prove that it is possible to set up a security system which is extremely difficult or impossible Continue reading →

Dr Eugene Shoemaker (USA) (1928-97) was one of the most eminent geologists of the century. Best known for his work on extraterrestrial impacts, he discovered 1,125 asteroids, many in partnership with his wife, Carolyn. Famously discovered the comet Shoemaker-Levy, which impacted with Jupiter in July 1994

Minimum requirement: 500 balloons

The marsh warbler (Acrocephalus palustris) is capable of imitating the songs of up to 80 other species of birds, most of them African birds heard in the warbler’s winter home. Song is necessary for mate attraction and selection as well as being an important means of marking territory.

Maurice Creswick (South Africa) has donated blood continuously since 1944. He gave his 380th unit of blood on 12 May 2010, donating the equivalent of approximately 171 litres (37.6 gal/45 US gal) in total.

The most bounces of a soap bubble is 195, and was achieved by Kuo-Sheng Lin (Taiwan), at Hold Enterprise Co. Ltd. in Taipei, Taiwan, on 17 April 2012. Lin used bubble solution from Hold Entreprise Co. Ltd. (a bubble manufacturer) who also hold the record Most soap bubbles blown inside one large bubble and most soap bubble domes. He wore a glove on his hand to assist with the bouncing.

The most windmills performed in a break-dancing style in 30 seconds is 50 set by Mauro Peruzzi (ITALY), also known as Cico, at the Sony Ericsson UK B-Boy Championships, World Finals, London, UK, on 10 October 2010. Cico did this record back stage.

As of 2010, Alain ‘Spiderman’ Robert (France) had climbed more than 100 towers, monuments and skyscrapers without ropes, suction devices or safety equipments. A dedicated solo urban climber (although he suffers from vertigo), Alain uses pipes, window frames, cables and the gaps between brickwork to scale structures that often measure more than 400 m (1,300 ft) in height. He has been arrested and imprisoned at locations all over the world for his unannounced and illegal ascents, but has also raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity Continue reading →