If you know what our Fan Choice competition is all about, then we hope you're excited it's back.
If you don't, well, let's get you a crash course:
Every Friday, we'll pick a selection of five records recently approved by our in-house Records Management Team. We hope to share a selection of all sorts of records and also from everywhere around the world.
We'll give you a little background info and a photo of each and then, at the end of each story, ask you to cast a vote for your favorite. The winners from each week will be entered into an end-of-year bracket to determine the Fan Choice record of the year. Our 2013 winner was Annie Maria Bissoondial for the most rope skips in one hour. Please do read her truly inspirational story here.
But here at Guinness World Records, we're no Rustin Cohle - time is linear and we're moving forward! And so, to start off our 2014 competition, here are our first five record entrants, all of which happen to have a little winter theme.
LONGEST PAINTING BY AN INDIVIDUAL (pictured above)
Record: 3,444.91 m (11,302 ft 2.11 in) long
Holder: Gurmej Singh, aka Artist Singh (India)
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
That's not all: Painting is certainly a nice hobby to take up while trapped indoors for winter. Artist Singh, though, operates on a level way above hobby. It took him 38 days to complete the uninterrupted painting, which was displayed in serpentine fashion along the town's 2.2-mile 6th Street Park river bank. The painting features various still life and is named "The Transcendental."
LARGEST WAFFLE
Record: 50 kg (110 lb 3.68 oz)
Holder: Stichting Gouda Oogst (Netherlands)
Location: Nieuwe Markt, Gouda, Netherlands
That's not all: What a delicious winter breakfast - this massive waffle also measured 2.47 m (8 ft 1.24 in) in diameter. The waffle required 60 kg (132 lb) of dough and took 15 kg (33 lb) of syrup, all baked in a 3,000 kg (6,614 lb) baking iron. After the town mayor took the first bite, 3,000 slices were handed out for the gathered crowd to enjoy.
LARGEST ONESIE
Record: 10.08 m (33.07 ft) long by 3.59 m (11.78 ft) wide
Holder: Cooneen By Design (UK)
Location: Leeds, UK
That's not all: The perfect winter sleepwear, this onesie featured in its design the main character from the hit British TV show "Mrs. Brown's Boys." Not just big on size, the epic onesie weighed 24.52 kg (54 lb) and Cooneen By Design even planned on selling normal-sized replicas to consumers.
LARGEST COLLECTION OF SNOWMEN
Record: 5,127 items and counting
Holder: Karen Schmidt (USA)
Location: Coon Rapids, Minnesota, USA
That's not all: This record constitutes any unique, individual item (so, no duplicates) that's snowman-related. Karen started her collection in 1980. She says her favorite items are a red bird making a snowman and a pink snowman that sings the Christmas classic "Santa Baby".
LARGEST OIL LAMP
Record: A volume of 652.87 liters (143.61 UK gal; 172.47 US gal)
Holder: Ayuntamiento de Almócita (Spain)
Location: Almócita, Almeria, Spain
That's not all: Keep us warm! Led by head craftsman Francisco Garcia, construction of the lamp required six months from concept to completion. The lamp was built in commemoration of The Night of Oil Lamps festival in Almócita, which is held as a tradition for a recent time when the families of the area had only oil lamps as their sole source of light and heat.
And those are your nominees for the first Fan Choice battle of 2014; time now to cast your vote!
Then check back here next week to see who you've helped crown the latest fan favorite!
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