Where does Misao Okawa fit into our look back at 2013?
We move along with our look back at the Year in World Records with February – obviously the shortest month of the year, but one no less jampacked with amazing stories from the Guinness World Records universe. The month, of course, brought us Valentine’s Day and the annual celebration of Black History Month, as well as the buzzworthy Academy Awards. But here are a few record stories that particularly caught our eye.
The month started off with Justin Bieber continuing his march toward galaxy domination. The teen heartthrob overtook Lady Gaga for most followed Twitter account on February 1. Katy Perry has since knocked off the Biebs, but we’re sure his next album or publicity stunt will get him back on top.
Soon thereafter in February, America’s greatest national treasure – the Super Bowl – gave us a game for the ages. A battle of sibling head coaches, a wild mid-game power outage, and plenty of records broken as the Baltimore Ravens won their second-ever Lombardi Trophy.
Sticking to the sports world, Michael Jordan – certainly one of the most recognizable stars on Earth over the last 25 years – hit a personal milestone by celebrating his 50 th birthday. We examined the amazing legacy created by His Airness.
MJ still has a while to go to catch Misao Okawa (Japan, above) though. Celebrating her 115 th birthday 10 days after Jordan, Okawa was named the oldest person living, a title she’s still holding onto in good health in Osaka.
February also saw the debut of the first Guinness World Records TV show to hit America in more than a decade. Hosted by Dan Cortese and Zach Selwyn, with GWR adjudicators Stuart Claxton and Liz Smith, the truly one-of-a-kind “ Guinness World Records Unleashed” is now in its second season on truTV.
The month wasn’t without its sad news, however. Within weeks of each other, we learned of the passing of Do, the world’s oldest rabbit, and Stewie, the longest cat. For a heartwarming look back at what these friends meant to their owners, read first-person accounts from Do’s owner Jenna Antol and Stewie’s owner, Robin Hendrickson.
