Tag Archives: Iran

Largest hand-woven carpet

The largest hand-woven carpet measures 5,630 m² (60,600.81 ft²) and was manufactured by the Iran Carpet Company (Iran). It was created for the Abu Dhabi mosque and was measured in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in 2007. The carpet was created in 9 parts and assembled in the mosque. The carpet would have been around 6,000 square metres originally, but parts of it had to be taken away in order to fit it onto the floor in the mosque.

Largest oil gusher

An oil gusher, or wildcat, is the uncontrolled release of oil which, because of its depth below the ground, is under great pressure. On 26 August 1956 an enormous wildcat occurred near Qom, Iran, in which some 120,000 barrels of crude oil per day leaked in a fountain that reached 52 m high. The Qom wildcat was extinguished after 90 days.

Largest percentage of population to attend a funeral

Official Iranian estimates gave the size of the crowds, lining the 32-km 20-mile route to Tehrans Behesht-e Zahra cemetery on June 11, 1989, for the funeral of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as 10,200,000 people, that is one-sixth of the population of Iran. Western agencies etimated that 2 million paid their respects as the body lay in state. In the crush eight people were killed and 500 injured. At the funeral, hundreds of hands shredded the white shroud, exposing the pale body of the Ayatollah lying in Continue reading →

Most expensive caviar

The most expensive of all caviar, and indeed the world’s most expensive food is ‘Almas’, from the Iranian Beluga fish – 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) of this ‘black gold’ is regularly sold for £20,000 (then $34,500). Almas is produced from the eggs of a rare albino sturgeon between 60-100 years old, which swims in the southern Caspian Sea where there is apparently less pollution. Caviar is traditionally eaten directly from the skin between the index finger and the thumb. The eggs are rolled Continue reading →

Most simultaneous games of chess by an individual

The most simultaneous games of chess played by an individual was 135 by Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (Iran) at the Shahid Beheshti University sports stadium in Tehran, Iran, on 8-9 February 2011. Maghami is a chess Grand Master and a 9-time Iranian national champion. All qualified opponents were required to possess an Elo rating of at least 1,200 before the attempt. The event was witnessed by, among others, Mohammed J. Kambuzia, the president of the Iranian Chess Federation and one of the vice-presidents of the World Continue reading →