The longest tennis racket and ball control duration is 4 hours 8 minutes and 16 seconds, achieved by Palmer Campbell (USA) at Belle Meade Tennis Courts in Nashville, Tennessee, USA on 16 January 2012.

The largest infra-red telescope dedicated solely to infrared astronomy is the UKIRT (United Kingdom Infrared Telescope) on Mauna Kea, Hawai’i. It has a 374cm 147in mirror. It is, however, so good that it can be used for visual work as well as infra-red.

The most taps in one minute was 1,163 and was achieved by Anthony Morigerato (USA) at Eleanor’s School of Dance in Albany, New York, USA, on 23 June 2011. Anthony Morigerato is a professional tap teacher, currently teaching the master class at the NUVO Dance Convention. Morigerato broke the record performing reverse paddles, with each leg kick or paddle making four taps. He executed 293 reverse paddles within the one minute time period, yet with 9 of these paddles only making 3 audible sounds, the Continue reading →

The thinnest laptop computer is the Windows 7 Dell Adamo XPS, which ranges between 9.7 mm (0.38 in) at its slimmest point to 10.3 mm (0.41 in) at its thickest – an average of 9.99 mm (0.39). The Adamo stays skinny by relocating key components and tucking the keyboard inside the reinforced 13.4-in display enclosure when closed. It measures 340 x 273.9 x 9.99 mm (13.39 x 10.78 x .39 in) Equipped with a 1,366 x 768 pixel widescreen 16:9 display, the laptop weighs 1.44 Continue reading →

At the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco, USA on 5 February 2006, Hitachi Ltd. (Japan), announced it had developed and verified operation of the world’s smallest and thinnest chip, measuring 0.15 mm² in area, and 7.5 microns (µm) thick. Due to the chip being thinner than paper (typically 80-100 microns), one of its wireless applications could be as an intelligent watermark.

The tightest circumference of a 30-cm (12-in) aluminium frying pan, rolled with bare hands in 30 seconds is 17.46 cm (6.87 in), set by Scott Murphy (USA) at the NXB Team Training Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA, on 30 July 2007.

The greatest distance travelled whilst playing tiddlywinks is 6.5 km (4.03 miles), and was achieved by Bipin Larkin and Ashrita Furman (both USA), at the Hudson Valley Mall in Kingston, New York, USA, on 11 February 2013.

The fastest speed over a quarter of a mile in Top Fuel Dragbike racing is 245.36 mph (394.87 km/h) and was achieved by Larry “Spiderman” McBride (United States) at South Georgia Motorsports Park, Valdosta, Georgia, United States, on 6 March 2006. In 2008 McBride managed to ride the quarter mile in 5.799 seconds, the fastest time recorded over that distance in Top Fuel Dragbike racing.

The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre – aka the Tony Awards – recognize achievement in Broadway theatre. The Tonys are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at a summer ceremony in Manhattan, New York City. Controversially, the awards are for Broadway productions and performances only (i.e., there are only around 40 theatres on Broadway), although a special award is given for regional theatre. There are currently 26 categories, plus special awards including the discretionary Special Tony Award and the Continue reading →

The greatest distance for an unsupported tightrope walk is 130 metres (429 feet) and was achieved by Bello Nock (USA) across a wire attached to poles onboard Royal Caribbean International’s ‘Majesty of the Seas’ cruise ship, in Coco Bay, Bahamas, USA, on 10 November 2010. Bello achieved this walk in approximately 15 minutes. He completed one length of the rope-a total of 429 feet. The tightrope used was a 6 x19 IWRC Galvanized 5/8 inch Aircraft cable (tractioned by a tractel tirfour) which was attached Continue reading →