Tag Archives: Ethiopia

Largest cowboy boot

The largest cowboy boot measures 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in) in height and 2.38 m (7 ft 9 in) in length and was made by Belachew Tola Buta (Ethiopia). The boot was presented and measured in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 24 January 2008.

Largest lip plate

Normally worn for decoration, for the Surma people of Ethiopia the significance of wearing lip plates is a financial one. The process of inserting these plates (made by the women themselves from local clay, which are then coloured with ochre and charcoal and fire-baked) begins approximately a year before marriage and the final size indicates the number of cattle required by the girl’s family from her future husband for her hand. The plates can reach up to 15 cm (6 in) in diameter, which would Continue reading →

Largest monolithic church

The largest monolithic (or rock-hewn) church is Bet Medhane Alem in Lalibela, Ethiopia. The structure measures 33.5 m (110 ft) long, 23.5 m (78 ft) wide and 11 m (36 ft) high. It was carved from volcanic rock in the 12th or 13th century AD by King Lalibela (1181-1221). Bet Medhane Alem (‘Saviour of the World’) is one of 11 monolithic or rock-hewn churches in the Lalibela complex, known as ‘the Eighth Wonder of the World’. Perhaps the most famous of them is Bet Giyorgis, Continue reading →

Most passengers on an aircraft

The greatest number of passengers ever carried by a commercial airliner is 1,088, by an El Al Boeing 747 during Operation Solomon, which involved the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and started on 24 May 1991. This figure included two babies born on the flight. The operation to evacuate the Ethiopian Jews continued non-stop for 36 hours involving a total of 34 El Al jumbo jets and Hercules C-130s – with seats removed to accommodate the maximum number of passengers. For more Continue reading →

Oldest human infant

The oldest human ancestor infant is “Dikika”, who died from unknown causes aged three and whose skeletal remains were discovered 3.3 million years later on 10 December 2000 by a team lead by paleoanthropologist, Zeresenay Alemseged (Ethiopia) in Dikika, in the Afar Depression of Ethiopia. The fossilised remains of the hominid infant include a skull, a complete torso, fingers and a foot, and is the most complete skeleton of her species, Australopithecus afarensis – that is the same species as 3.2 million-year-old Lucy, an adult Continue reading →

Oldest remains of modern humans

The oldest remains of anatomically modern human discovered so far date back 160,000 years. They consist of two complete crania, one adult and one child, and fragments from another adult skull. They were discovered in Ethiopia by a team of scientists led by Tim White, Berkeley University of California, Berkeley, California, USA. Note from Dr White: “Anatomically modern human” is the best descriptor, and this refers to the anatomy of the skull, particularly the face, in which modern people differ from all earlier, fossil forms. Continue reading →