The world’s largest kugel by both diameter and weight is entitled Mary Morton Parsons Earth-Moon Sculpture and was unveiled 8 January 2003 at the Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, USA. The earth globe is a single piece of South African black granite polished into a sphere that is 2.653 m (8 ft 8 in) in diameter. A kugel (from the German word for ball) is a perfectly balanced, polished stone sphere that fits into a socket (base) carved to the exact curvature of the ball.
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The world´s largest fine for an overdue library book is $345.14 (£203.29), the amount owed at two cents a day for the poetry book Days and Deeds checked out of Kewanee Public Library, Illinois, USA in April 1955 by Emily Canellos-Simms. Although the book was due back 19 April 1955, Emily found it in her mother´s house 47 years later and presented the library with a check for overdue fines.
The largest refracting optical lens in the world measures 1.827m (5.99ft) in diameter. It was constructed by a team led by Thomas Peck (USA), at the Optics Shop of the Optical Sciences Center of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, USA, and completed in January 2000. It was built as a test for the secondary mirror of the 6.5m (21.3ft) MMT Telescope on Mt Hopkins, Arizona, USA. The lens is made from fused quartz and weighs roughly 1000lb (450kg)
The world’s largest living tree is General Sherman the giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) growing in the Sequoia National Park, California, USA. It stands 82.6 m (271 ft) tall, has a diameter of 8.2 m (27 ft 2 in) (dbh)* and a circumference of approximately 25.9 m (85 ft). The trunk had a volume of 1,487 m³ (52,508 ft³) in 1980 when it was last measured accurately, but by 2004 it was thought to be almost 1,530 m³ (54,000 ft³). This tree is estimated to contain
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A litter of six pygmy goats was born to ‘Lucy’ owned by Melanie Hall of Julian, Pennsylvania, USA, on 12 March 2006. Five out of six survived.
The largest magnet sculpture is 73.66 cm (29 in) tall and 40.64 cm (16 in) wide and was created by Nano Magnetics (Canada) at the Golden Globe Luxury Gift Lounge in the London Hotel in Los Angeles, California, USA, on 14 January 2011. The statue replicates the famous Golden Globe Award.
One in every five pairs of tights in the world is made by Sara Lee, making it the largest tights manufacturer in 1999. Its hosiery brands include LEggs, Hanes and Pretty Polly. Sara Lee’s takeover of UK firm Courtaulds in May 2000 adds the Aristoc brand to its line of hosiery.
The largest mandolin ensemble consisted of 389 participants and was achieved by Tara and the Galax Fiddler’s Convention Mandolin Ensemble (USA) in Galax, Virginia, USA, on 7 August 2012.
Built by the US company Convair, the B-36 Peacemaker was the largest, mass produced, piston-engine aircraft ever made, having six Pratt & Whitney B4360s supplemented by four General Electric J47 jet engines. It was the first manned bomber with an unrefuellled intercontinental range capability and also had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built at 230 feet (70.1 metres). It was operational from 1949 to 1959 and was capable of carrying strategic nuclear weapons.
The largest ice maze is 1,194.33 m² (12,855.68 ft²) in area, achieved by the Arctic Glacier Ice Maze (USA) at the Buffalo Powder Keg Festival in Buffalo, New York, USA, on 26 February 2010. The maze was created by Roaming Buffaloes, a social networking club for Western New Yorkers. The maze’s width was 25.85 m (84.80 ft) and the length was 46.21 m (151.60 ft). The height of the walls was 1.83 m (6 ft). The maze was constructed using 2,171 blocks of each, each
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