Copyright CBS News
Monsieur Mangetout — that's Mr. Eats Everything in French — is famous for eating a plane, earning the Guinness World Record for world's strangest diet. His record is one of tens of thousands on the books at Guinness World Records where, every year, applications are reviewed under a meticulous auditing system. Guinness World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday has met the shortest, tallest and fastest, along with the people behind jaw-dropping human feats, during his decades in the role. "Humans are such an interesting bunch, aren't we? And record breaking is an innately human thing," Glenday said. "If that means you do strange things like swallowing sausages whole, or climbing Everest, or running a marathon with a milk bottle on your head, then that's fine. That's great." From settling an argument to selling more than 150 million copies The idea for the Guinness World Records book began during a hunting trip at a country estate in Ireland, where the manager of the Guinness brewery got into an argument over who could name the fastest game bird in Europe. To settle future pub debates, the brewery manager commissioned a book of superlatives, which eventually became Guinness World Records. The first one was published in 1955. "The initial reaction from the book trade was not that positive," Glenday said. "In the first sales meeting ever, the salesperson wrote 'six' on the slip. And they said, 'Do you mean 6,000? 600?' Said, 'No. Six.'" They started with six copies. Thousands more were quickly printed after the idea caught on. Seventy years later, Guinness World Records is still a hit. More than 150 million copies of the book have been sold in 40 languages, makingGuinness World Recordsone of the best-selling books in history. Some of the records on record Many of the record holders in the pages of Guinness World Records are well known, like Usain Bolt, holder of the title for world's fastest 200-meters and Beyonce for the most Grammys. Some of the records are ones that readers may have never imagined, such as David Rush, an Idaho tech worker who has broken more than 350 records and counting, including most bites taken from three apples while juggling for a minute and the record for most T-shirts worn during a half marathon. Monsieur Mangetout, whose real name is Michel Lotito, supposedly ate a Cessna over the course of two years. "His wife wouldn't let him use the toilet at home because if he'd been eating metal, it tends to come out like bullets and it would chip the porcelain. So he'd have to use a hotel with metal toilets near his house," Glenday said. Mangetout is one of Glenday's favorite ever record holders. "To meet him was a real honor for me because he was like a childhood hero for me," Glenday said. Inside the company's London headquarters, Glenday keeps a cabinet of greatest hits, including the world's smallest playing cards and a giant size 29 shoe. Not everyone in the book set out to break a record. The world's tallest and shortest people often have had genetic conditions. Diana Armstrong, the woman with the longest fingernails — 43 feet — hasn't cut them since her daughter, who painted her nails, passed away in 1997. How records are audited Glenday usually has a stopwatch and time measure on hand. He personally measured the world's tallest person, Sultan Kösen, topping out at 8 feet, 3 inches tall. He also measured the world's shortest person ever, Chandra Bahadur Dangi, who he discovered after a woodcutter sent footage from a remote village in Nepal. Glenday flew to Nepal to take the measurement in person. Each year, Guinness World Records receives roughly 50,000 applications. As many as 95% get rejected, with the largest number of submissions coming from the U.S. Records that are approved must meet strict criteria. Typically, they have to be filmed from multiple angles, verified by independent witnesses and measured with precision. The question of how to design the rules for records has sparked office debates, like who makes the cut for the largest gathering of people dressed as Smurfs. Guinness World Records had to decide if blue skin was necessary, if specific outfit types were necessary and more. Glenday said they have a huge list of experts to reach out to on all sorts of topics. A slice of history Guinness World Records also employs 81 adjudicators across six continents. They'll travel to events and enforce rules during record attempts, as Thomas Bradford did during a September pizza party in New Haven, Connecticut. "The largest pizza party is probably the most competitive record that I've ever been a part of," Bradford said. Colin Caplan, the mastermind behind the party and a pizza fanatic, was hoping his city could eat its way into history by hosting the world's largest pizza party. Caplan needed 3,358 people to show up in order to beat the old record, which had been set in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Participants got 15 minutes to eat two slices of pizza, crusts and all, and drink a bottle of water. There was also a catch: each participant had to stay until the party was over. Caplan's pursuit of a record didn't come cheap. Brands and businesses chasing titles for marketing must pay fees. Caplan said he paid nearly $30,000 and fundraised six figures to cover all the costs, including eight ovens and all that cheese. At the party, Bradford and a group of 100 volunteers kept the tally. In the end, they counted 4,525 people who'd gathered and dug into pies to set a new Guinness World Record. "Human beings are nearly the same everywhere, they are really," Glenday said. "They're trying to get through from birth to death and have as much fun and enjoy life and get all the experiences that you can. And we see this every day. The world is full of these amazing fun things if you just look in the right place."
