Guinness World Records - originally the Guinness Book of Records - the ultimate authority on record-breaking achievements, started out as an idea for a book of facts to solve arguments in pubs.

What is the purpose of Guinness World Record?

Guinness World Records documents and celebrates superlative achievements that are the best in the world. Record breaking is a serious business, which means we have strict policies governing what constitutes a Guinness World Records title in order to maintain these high standards.

How did the Guinness World Records start?

The idea for a book of records begins in the early 1950s when Sir Hugh Beaver (1890—1967), Managing Director of the Guinness Brewery, attends a shooting party in County Wexford. There, he and his hosts argue about the fastest game bird in Europe, and fail to find an answer in any reference book.