Guinness World Records

موسوعة غينيس للأرقام القياسية (بالإنجليزية: Guinness World Records‏) هو كتاب مرجعي يصدر سنوياً، يحتوي على الأرقام القياسية العالمية المعروفة. الكتاب بنفسه حقق رقماً قياساً، حيث أنه يعتبر سلسلة الكتب الأكثر بيعاً على الإطلاق. تم إصدار أول نسخة من الموسوعة في 1955 بواسطة شركة غينيس.وتعتبر هذة الموسوعة من ادق المراجع التي يتم الرجوع إليها في معرفة الأرقام القياسية.

يخزن فيها كل الأرقام القياسية أو الأعلى في كل مجال مثلاً : أكبر وأسرع وأثقل وأثرى وتحتوي هذه الموسوعة على العديد من المعلومات، منها أعظم وزن رجل في العالم وأقصر امرأة، وأضخم كلب في العالم، وأقوى رجل في العالم. وأطول رجل في العالم واصغر دب واكبر دب.

مصادر|تاريخ فبراير 2009 وهناك الكثير حول العالم ممن يضحون بحياتهم أو مالهم لقاء اسمٍ في موسوعة غينيس العالمية، وتبقى الشهرة هي الدافع الأول وراء دخولك موسوعة غينيس.

بحسب موقع شركة غينيس للأرقام القياسية على شبكة الأنترنت فإن الشركة تقول بأن في آخر طبعة عام 2006 هناك 64,000 رقم قياسي عالمي في شتى المجالات والفعاليات الفردية منها والجماعية، وكذلك فإن الموسوعة كما هو مذكور في بداية المقال فإنها أو موسوعة تباع منها في الأسواق 100 مليون نسخة لحد اليوم وهو رقم قياسي بحد ذاته يخولها للدخول إلى الموسوعة هي الأخرى. شهد العام 1951 بزوغ فكرة كتاب “غينيس” للأرقام القياسية. ففي ذاك العام، دخل السّيد “هيوغ بيفر”، الذي شغل آنذاك منصب مدير معمل “غينيس” لصناعة البيرة، في جدال أثناء مشاركته في رحلة صيد. ودار الجدال حول أسرع طير يستخدم كطريدة في ألعاب الرّماية في أوروبا، “الزقزاق الذهبي” أم “الطيهوج”؟. في تلك اللحظة، أدرك السّير “بيفر” مدى النجاح الذي قد يحقّقه كتاب يأتي بالأجوبة الشافية على هذا النوع من الأسئلة. فكان على حق!

بدأت فكرة السّير “هيوغ” تتجسّد واقعًا ملموسًا عندما أوكِل “نوريس” و”روس ماكويرتر”، الذين كانا يديران وكالة لتقصّي الحقائق في لندن، مهمّة جمع ما أصبح في ما بعد “كتاب غينيس للأرقام القياسيّة”. وصدرت النسخة الأولى منه في 27 آب 1955، ليتصدّر لائحة الكتب الأكثر مبيعًا بحلول عيد الميلاد في العام نفسه.

ومنذ ذلك الحين، أصبحت العلامة التجارية “غينيس للأرقام القياسيّة” أوGuinness World Records TM اسمًا مألوفًا ورائدًا عالميًا في مجال الأرقام القياسيّة العالميّة. فما من شركة تجمع أرقام قياسيّة من العالم أجمع، تتثبّت من صحّتها، تصادق عليها، وتقدّمها بالشموليّة والصحة عينها.

أضفْ أنّ “فريق إدارة الأرقام القياسيّة” يتابع بحيادّية والتزام راسخَين الأرقام كافة لضمان صحّتها. فلا يتمّ المصادقة على أيّ محاولة ولا تمنح شهادة “غينيس للأرقام القياسيّة” إلاّ بعد أن يتمّ التحقق منها فتنتفي عندئذٍ كلّ الشكوك حولها.

هذا وقد حقّق الكتاب رقمًا قياسيًا لبيعه ما يزيد عن مئة مليون نسخة في 100 دولة، و37 لغة مختلفة. والجدير ذكره أنّ كتاب “غينيس للأرقام القياسية” المسجّل تحت الاسم التجاريGuinness World Records TM هو الأكثر مبيعًا على الإطلاق بين الكتب التي تحفظها حقوق الطبع والنّشر.

هذا منقول عن “ماركو فريغاتي” رئيس فريق إدارة الأرقام القياسيّة

و”غينيس للأرقام القياسيّة” فرع من مؤسسة “هيت الترفيهيّة” (HIT Entertainment) الرائدة في مجال إنتاج البرامج العائلية العالية الجودة وتوزيعها عبر العالم. تمّ إنشاء مؤسسة “هيت الترفيهية” عام 1989، وهي من أسرع الشركات صاحبة حقوق الملكيّة الفكريّة نموًا في العالم. وتجدر الإشارة إلى أنّها متخصّصة في شخصيات البرامج المعدّة للأطفال، وتتمتع بشبكة توزيع شاملة فضلاً عن علاقة متينة ومديدة مع كبريات قنوات البث التلفزيوني والإذاعي.

وقد تمّ إطلاق مؤسّسة “هيت الترفيهيّة” عام 1989 على يد فريق المبيعات السابق في “تلفزيون هنسن الدولي” (Henson International Television)، وهو فرع من “Henson Associates” المنتجة لبرامج عائليّة حصدت نجاحًا كبيرًا على مستوى العالم، ومنها “Muppet Show”، “Muppet Babies” و”Fraggle Rock”. وطرحت الشركة أسهمها في بورصة البريطانية عام 1996 برأس مال قيمته 29 مليون دولار أميركي، لتتضاعف قيمتها اليوم وتساوي أكثر من 600 مليون دولار. وفي شباط 2001، اشترت مؤسّسة “هيت” استوديوهات “ليريك” (Lyrick) الكائنة في الولايات المتّحدة والمالكة لشخصية “الديناصور بارني” المتميّزة، ما أدّى إلى التحام مثالي بين رائدين في مجال برامج الأطفال.

Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records (and in previous U.S. editions as The Guinness Book of World Records), is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. The book itself held a world record, as the best-selling copyrighted series of all-time.[3] It is also one of the most stolen books from public libraries in the United States.

On 4 May 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, then the managing director of the Guinness Breweries,[5] went on a shooting party in the North Slob, by the River Slaney in County Wexford, Ireland. He became involved in an argument over which was the fastest game bird in Europe, the koshin golden plover or the grouse. That evening at Castlebridge House he realised that it was impossible to confirm in reference books whether or not the golden plover was Europe’s fastest game bird.[6][7]

Beaver knew that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in pubs in Britain and Ireland, but there was no book with which to settle arguments about records. He realised then that a book supplying the answers to this sort of question might prove popular.

Beaver’s idea became reality when Guinness employee Christopher Chataway recommended student twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, who had been running a fact-finding agency in London. The brothers were commissioned to compile what became The Guinness Book of Records in August 1954. One thousand copies were printed and given away.[8]

After founding the Guinness Book of Records at 107 Fleet Street, the first 197-page edition was bound on 27 August 1955 and went to the top of the British bestseller lists by Christmas. “It was a marketing give away—it wasn’t supposed to be a money maker,” said Beaver. The following year it was launched in the U.S., and it sold 70,000 copies.

Because the book became a surprise hit, many further editions were printed, eventually settling into a pattern of one revision a year, published in October to coincide with Christmas sales. The McWhirters continued to publish it and related books for many years. Both brothers had an encyclopedic memory — on the TV series Record Breakers, based upon the book, they would take questions posed by children in the audience on various world records, and would usually be able to give the correct answer. Ross McWhirter was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1975.[9] Following McWhirter’s assassination, the feature in the show where questions about records posed by children were answered was called “Norris on the Spot”.

Guinness World Records Limited was formed in 1954 to publish the first book.

Sterling Publishing owned the rights to the Guinness book in the 1970s and under their management, the book became a household name in the USA.

The group was owned by Guinness Brewery and subsequently Diageo until 2001, when it was purchased by Gullane Entertainment. Gullane was itself purchased by HiT Entertainment in 2002. In 2006, Apax Partners purchased HiT and subsequently sold Guinness World Records in early 2008 to the Jim Pattison Group, which is also the parent company of Ripley Entertainment, which is licensed to operate Guinness World Records’ Attractions. With offices in New York and Tokyo, Guinness World Records global headquarters remain in London, while its museum attractions are based at Ripley headquarters in Orlando, Florida.

Recent editions have focused on record feats by human competitors. Competitions range from obvious ones such as weightlifting to the longest egg tossing distance, or for longest time spent playing Grand Theft Auto IV or the number of hot dogs that can be consumed in ten minutes, although eating contest and beer and alcohol consumption entries are no longer accepted, possibly for fear of litigation. Besides records about competitions, it contains such facts as the heaviest tumor, the most poisonous plant, the shortest river (Roe River), the longest-running drama (Guiding Light) in the USA, the longest serving members of a drama series (William Roache for Coronation Street in the UK, Ray Meagher for Home and Away in Australia), the third longest-running drama (General Hospital) in the USA, and the world’s most successful salesman (Joe Girard), among others. Many records also relate to the youngest person who achieved something, such as the youngest person to visit all nations of the world, being Maurizio Giuliano.[10]

Each edition contains a selection of the large set of records in the Guinness database, and the criteria for that choice have changed over the years. The newest records are added, and the records that have been updated are added too.

The ousting of Norris McWhirter from his consulting role in 1995 and the subsequent decision by Diageo Plc to sell the Guinness World Records brand have shifted it from a text-oriented reference book, to an illustrated product. This shift means that the majority of world records are no longer listed in the book (or on the website), and can only be determined by a written application to Guinness to ‘break’ the record. For those unable to wait the 4–6 weeks for a reply, Guinness will process a ‘fast-track’ application for £300 (~US$450).

The Guinness Book of Records is the world’s most sold copyrighted book, thus earning it an entry within its own pages. A number of spin-off books and television series have also been produced. Again the emphasis in these shows has been on spectacular, entertaining stunts, rather than any aspiration to inform or educate.

Guinness World Records bestowed the record of “Person with the most records” on Ashrita Furman of Queens, NY in April 2009. At that time, he held 100 records.[11]

In 2005, Guinness designated 9 November as International Guinness World Records Day to encourage breaking of world records; it was described as “phenomenally successful”. The 2006 version was dubbed “the world’s biggest international event,” with an estimated 100,000 people participating in over 10 countries. The promotion has earned Guinness a whopping 2,244 all-new valid records in 12 months, which is a 173% increase over the previous year.

Several world records that were once included in the book have been removed for ethical reasons. By publishing world records in a category, the book may encourage others to try to beat that record, even at the expense of their own health and safety. For example, following publication of a “heaviest cat” record, many cat owners overfed their pets beyond the bounds of what was healthy, so entries such as these were removed.[16] The Guinness Book also dropped records within their “eating and drinking records” section of Human Achievements in 1991 over concerns that potential competitors could do harm to themselves and expose the publisher to potential litigation.[17] These changes included the removal of all liquor, wine, and beer drinking records, along with other unusual records for consuming such unlikely things as bicycles and trees.[17] Other records, such as sword swallowing and rally driving (on public roads), were closed from further entry as the current holders had performed beyond what are considered safe human tolerance levels. Earlier editions also made reference to former King Zog of Albania holding the world record for amount of cigarettes consumed being c.300 per day.[citation needed]

There have been instances of closed records being reopened. For example, the sword swallowing record was listed as closed in 1990 Guinness Book of World Records, but the Guinness World Records Primetime TV show, which started in 1998, accepted three sword swallowing challenges (and so did the 2007 edition of the Guinness World Records onwards). Similarly, the speed beer drinking records which were dropped from the book in 1991, reappeared 17 years later in the 2008 edition, but were moved from the “Human Achievements” section of the older book[18] to the “Modern Society” section of the newer edition.[19]

Chain letters are also not allowed. “Guinness World Records does not accept any records relating to chain letters, sent by post or e-mail. If you receive a letter or an e-mail, which may promise to publish the names of all those who send it on, please destroy it, it is a hoax. No matter if it says that Guinness World Records and the postal service are involved, they are not

In 1976, a Guinness Book of World Records museum opened in the Empire State Building. Speed shooter Bob Munden then went on tour promoting the Guinness World Records by firing a single-action revolver in .01 seconds.[21] Among exhibits were life-size statues of the world’s tallest man (Robert Wadlow) and world’s largest earth worm, an X-ray photo of a sword swallower, repeated lightning strike victim Roy Sullivan’s hat complete with lightning holes and a pair of gem-studded golf shoes for sale for $6500.[22] This museum has since closed.[when?]

In more recent years the Guinness company has permitted the franchising of small museums with displays based on the book, all currently (as of 2010) located in towns popular with tourists: Tokyo, Copenhagen, San Antonio, Niagara Falls, Hollywood and Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

There were once Guinness World Records museums and exhibitions at the Trocadero in London, Bangalore, Surfers Paradise, San Francisco, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Orlando, Florida,[23] Atlantic City, New Jersey,[24] and Las Vegas, Nevada,[25] but these locations have since closed[when?]. The Orlando museum, which closed in 2002, was branded The Guinness Records Experience;[23] the Hollywood, Niagara Falls, Copenhagen, and Gatlinburg, Tennessee museums also previously featured this branding.