What's the world record for...? Exploring the titles you search for the most
With over 70,000 record titles covering just about every topic you could possibly imagine – and some you never could – it’s no wonder you keep coming to us to uncover the truth about the world’s wildest superlatives.
We’ve taken a look back over the most-visited records pages on our website to discover which subjects are piquing your interests the most.
And here, we’re putting everything you need to know about them all in one handy place…
Heaviest birth
This record is held by a baby boy born to a giantess named Anna Bates (née Swan) (Canada, b. 6 August 1846; d. 5 August 1888), who stood at 241.3 cm (7 ft 11 in) tall.
She gave birth to a boy weighing 9.98 kg (22 lb) and measuring 71.12 cm (28 in) at her home in Seville, Ohio, USA, on 19 January 1879.
Anna Haining Bates (7'11'') one of the tallest women in history with her husband. pic.twitter.com/SH4BHyYx9x
— Undiscovered History (@HistoryUnd) August 26, 2025
He was also the longest baby ever recorded.
The baby was never officially named and referred to only as “Babe”. He tragically died just 11 hours after he was born.
Longest personal name
Laurence Watkins (Australia) – that’s the short version – actually has 2,253 names.
Born Laurence Gregory Watkins, he changed his name by Deed Poll when he was 24, and he had to win a legal battle to keep it.
If you want to watch a video of him reading out his incredibly complicated name, you can check that out here. But it takes him ages, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Most prolific mother ever
Tragically, the woman who holds this record isn’t even known by her own first name – she’s remembered by history as simply some man’s wife.
Mrs Vassilyev is said to have given birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets through 27 pregnancies – a total of 69 children.
@guinnessworldrecords Most prolific mother ever: Mrs Vassilyev (b. 1707–c.1782) - 69 children #LearnOnTikTok #GWRoriginals ♬ original sound - Guinness World Records
It sounds hard to believe but there are many contemporaneous reports that suggest it was true.
Read more about her story here.
Most children delivered at a single birth to survive
The Mali nonuplets are the most children delivered at a single birth to survive.
And they also share the record for most children delivered at a single birth with nine babies born to Geraldine Brodrick (Australia) in 1971. Tragically, none of those children lived more than six days.
The Mali nonuplets were born to Halima Cisse and Abdelkader Arby (Mali) in the Ain Borja clinic in Casablanca, Morocco, on 4 May 2021.
It was originally believed Halima was carrying seven babies, and she was flown to the clinic in Casablanca for specialist care, only to be told that she was actually carrying NINE children.
Halima and Abdelkader already had one daughter, so they’ve more than got their hands full.
They turn five soon, but find out more about them in this story marking their fourth birthdays.
Want to find the answers to your most-Googled questions too? Read more here.
Longest time in an abdominal plank position (male)
This incredibly impressive record is held by Josef Šálek (Czech Republic also known as Czechia) with a time of 9 hours 38 minutes.
Better known as Joska, the therapist, lecturer and personal development coach, completely overhauled his lifestyle before breaking this record.
Oldest person ever
Jeanne Louise Calment (France) is the oldest ever person on record.
Born on 21 February 1875, she lived until the age of 122 years 164 days, dying in a nursing home on 4 August 1997.
Jeanne Louise Calment was born #OTD in 1875 and lived to be the oldest person ever.
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) February 21, 2021
She was born 14 years before the Eiffel Tower was erected and had met Vincent Van Gogh whilst working in her father's shop.
Read more about her extraordinary life here 👇
Of course, living for so long, she lived a very interesting life.
Select one of these headlines to find out more about her:
- Oldest person ever: 122-year-old Jeanne Calment’s extraordinary life
- Oldest ever person's genius deal with lawyer meant she got paid to live in her own home
- All the unflattering things oldest person ever Jeanne Calment said about Vincent van Gogh
Most pull ups in 24 hours (male)
Enrique Zapata (Mexico) did more pulls ups in one day than any other man has – a stonking 12,345 of them.
He broke the record after five years of training.
He said: “It took discipline, belief, and an extraordinary team.”
Read more about his incredible fitness journey here.
Find stories about other records like this in our Sports and Fitness section.
Longest time breath held voluntarily underwater (male)
How long can you hold your breath underwater?
Well, Vitomir Maričić (Croatia) can hold it for an astonishing 29 min 3 sec.
He broke the previous record by nearly five minutes.
Tallest dog ever (male)
A Great Dane named Zeus from the USA still holds the record for tallest dog ever more than 10 years after his death.
He measured 1.118 m (44 in) from the paws to the withers.
He’s also a Guinness World Records ICON.
Oldest person to give birth
The oldest recorded person to give birth was Maria del Carmen Bousada Lara (Spain, b. 5 January 1940), who was 66 years 358 days old when she gave birth to twin boys by caesarean section.
👶 María del Carmen Bousada de Lara (Spain) became the world's oldest mother
— WorldWide Records (@WWR_en) October 24, 2023
by giving birth to twins through IVF at age 66 in 2006.#Motherhood #WWR pic.twitter.com/ODd5XJt2U5
The twins, named Christian and Pau, were born at the Sant Pau hospital, Barcelona, Spain on 29 December 2006.
Maria received IVF treatment in America, by lying that she was 55, after being rejected for treatment in Spain.
She tragically died from cancer in 2009.