international Archives - Page 11 of 15 - Worldwide Weird Holidays

November 12 is Guinness World Records Day

November 12, 2016/0 Comments/in November

Today is Guinness World Records Day, when hundreds of thousands of people around the globe will try to make it into the famous book.

Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday said, “Guinness World Records Day unites people across the planet from all walks of life, all of whom have one common goal – to become the greatest in the world at something.”

While today’s records are now being set, let’s take a look at a few recent successes.

Skateboarding Dog

In Lima, Peru, a skateboarding bulldog named Otto passed through 30 pairs of legs, earning him the Guinness World Record for Longest Human Tunnel Traveled Through by Skateboarding Dog.

Thirty people faced in one direction and stood with their feet apart to allow the three-year-old English Bulldog, to freely pass through the human tunnel without being led or touched.

A crowd gathered to watch the cute canine’s record-setting attempt. The video clearly shows that Otto was not simply rolling along. He was steering, leaning and course-correcting with his paws.
Guinness World Records adjudicator Sarah Cusson witnessed the event and presented Otto and his proud owners Luciana Viale and Robert Rickards with an official certificate. The record has yet to be broken.

Basketball Wizardry

Exhibition basketball team The Harlem Globetrotters celebrated Guinness World Records Day 2015 by achieving seven incredible world record titles at the Talking Stick Event Arena in Arizona, USA.

Farthest Kneeling Basketball Shot Made Backward–60 feet 7.5 inches (18.47 meters)

guinness book of world records day harlem-globetrotters-furthest-kneeling

Handles Franklin

Longest Underhand Basketball Shot–84 feet 8.5 inches (25.81 meters)

guinness book of world records day Harlem-Globetrotter

Hammer Harrison

Longest Basketball Shot Made Blindfolded–69 feet 6 inches (21.18 meters)–Thunder Law

Furthest Blindfolded Basketball Hook Shot–50 feet 3.5 inches (15.32 meters)–Big Easy Lofton

The Globetrotters also set records for Most Basketball Three Pointers Made by a Pair in One Minute, Longest Duration Spinning a Basketball on the Nose (7.7 seconds) and Most Basketball Slam Dunks in One Minute (19).

Find these and many more basketball world records here.

Stunt Parking

On November 12, 2015, Alastair Moffatt successfully reversed a classic Mini Cooper into a parking space, leaving a combined distance of just 34 centimeters between his car and the vehicles in front and behind.

Pedal to the floor, Alastair performed a dramatic J-turn, then a hand brake turn, to slot into an almost impossibly small space and break one of the most competitive records in the stunt driving field:

Tightest Parallel Parking in Reverse

An on-site official confirmed that Moffatt bested the previous record of 35 centimeters by 1 centimeter. (That is less than 13.39 inches!) The video is short, amazing and definitely worth watching.

Puppy Love

Let’s bookend the fun with another talented pooch. Purin, a nine-year-old Beagle, earned her place in the 2015 Guinness Book of World Records when she “saved” 14 mini soccer balls, smashing her previous record of 11.

Most Balls Caught by a Dog with the Paws in One Minute

She also holds the record for Fastest 10 Meters Traveled on a Ball by a Dog, after she balanced on an inflated ball and crossed the finish line in 11.9 seconds.

Check out thousands more records in the Guinness Book of World Records 2016 print edition, on its official website and YouTube page. Have a chart-bustingly great day!

November 10 is International Accounting Day

November 10, 2016/0 Comments/in November

What’s so exciting about International Accounting Day? On November 10, 1494, Italian mathematician and Franciscan friar Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli published “Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita” (Everything About Arithmetic, Geometry and Proportion).

It included a detailed description of double-entry bookkeeping, called the Method of Venice. Although this technique had been practiced for centuries, Pacioli’s treatise was the first of its kind in print and earned him the title of “Father of Modern Accounting.”

*****

Many in modern times have followed in Pacioli’s footsteps, with varying degrees of success.

Chuck Liddell is a former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion whose fighting skills have helped make mixed martial arts a mainstream sport. He also is a trained accountant, with a BA in Business and Accounting from California Polytechnic University. No one will be making any “boring bean counter” jokes to him.

Kenny G. is a world-famous saxophonist whose smooth jazz sounds have sold more than 75 million records worldwide. He also graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington with a degree in accounting, which he credits with helping him manage his finances early on in his career and paving the way for future success.

John Grisham earned a degree in accounting, intending to become a tax attorney. Instead, he decided to pursue criminal law. His first novel, A Time to Kill, was based on evidence he observed at trial. He has written 27 legal thrillers, 9 of which were made into movies, and has over 300 million copies in print.

In 1962, Mick Jagger was studying accounting and finance—on scholarship—at the London School of Economics when he formed the Rolling Stones with Keith Richards and Brian Jones. We think you’ll agree that worked out for the best.

*****

Need more proof that accounting is cool? Click here to apply for a job at the FBI! According to the site:

Accountants have been woven into the fabric of the FBI since its creation in the summer of 1908, when a dozen bank examiners were included among the original force of 34 investigators. Today, around 15 percent of agents employed by the Bureau qualify as special agent accountants.

How many are there, exactly? We could tell you, but then we’d have to kill you. (Not really; we just don’t know.)

Happy International Accounting Day!

October 12 is International Top Spinning Day

October 11, 2016/0 Comments/in October

Today is International Top Spinning Day, created in 2003 by the Spinning Top & Yo-Yo Museum of Burlington, WI, to celebrate one of the oldest toys in the world. It always takes place on the second Wednesday of October.

The earliest known tops, constructed of clay, date back to around 3500 BC. Archaeologists discovered them in the ruins of the ancient city of Ur in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). Certainly, children improvised with rocks, acorns and other found objects long before then.

In addition to providing entertainment, tops make excellent teaching tools. “The earth spins around a single axis, just as toy spinning tops and yo-yos do,” explains museum director Judith Schulz.

Tops demonstrate the “gyroscopic effect,” which employs inertia, gravity, momentum and centrifugal force. When a top is spun, it appears to stay upright. Eventually friction between the top and the surface it is spinning on slows the rotation, causing it to wobble before falling over.

How should you celebrate? The museum hosts a mass spinning event at noon. If you can’t make it there, you could buy or build a top of your own. Feeling less industrious? A penny will do. Start spinning and rediscover the simple joys of a beloved childhood pastime.

Happy International Top Spinning Day!

International Eat an Apple Day

September 17, 2016/2 Comments/in September

Today is International Eat an Apple Day,
celebrated on the third Saturday of September.
So, eat an apple.

That is all.

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Posts

Skateboarding Dog

Basketball Wizardry

Stunt Parking

Puppy Love