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American grandmother Linda Wolfe has become "the most married woman in the world" after walking down the aisle 23 times, and is now "on the lookout for number 24".
Mrs Wolfe, 68, is included in the Guinness Book of World Records for the dubious honour of being wed more times than anyone else alive.
She has said that she is "addicted to the romance" of getting married.
Born Linda Lou Taylor, the American first married in 1957 aged 16, to a 31-year-old called George Scott.
The union lasted for seven years, the longest and happiest of any of her marriages.
Since then things have tended to go downhill.
Over the subsequent decades she married a one-eyed convict, a preacher, barmen, plumbers and musicians.
Two turned out to be homosexual, two were homeless and one beat her. Another put a padlock on her fridge.
One marriage lasted just 36 hours because "the love wasn't there".
But Linda, from Indiana, once married the same man, Jack Gourley, three times.
She has had seven children by her different husbands and been a stepmother to many more.
Her last marriage, a decade ago, was a publicity stunt.
It was to Glynn Wolfe, who in taking Linda as his bride meant he was the world's most married man, at 29 times.
He died a year later aged 88.
Consequently she said that she was "on the lookout for number 24".
She told The Sun: "It's been years since I walked down the aisle. I miss it."
The serial bride, who now lives in a retirement home, said she had never cheated on a husband. She said if she had her life over again she would "never, ever" marry so many men.
Elaine Davidson, the world’s most pierced woman, has added even more metal into her body. Davidson’s latest additions bring her piercing totals to 6,005, the U.K.
Elaine Davidson: World’s Most Pierced Woman Guinness World Record 2008
Elaine Davidson didn’t need the new piercings for record purposes–she got into the Guinness Book of World Records back in the year 2000 with the comparatively miniscule 462 piercings. At the time, just under 200 of those were in her face.
As for her current 6,005 piercings, Davidson tells the Telegraph more than 1,500 of them are “internal.”
Davidson works as a nurse in Edinburgh. She also recently opened a piercing studio in Darlington, Durham.
Elaine Davidson Pierced World Record Video
The following video, from summer of 2008, shows Davidson a couple thousand piercings ago. It includes an interview with her about her unusual body art.
THIS could be the biggest chocolate eclair ever made in the world – and it was all done in a small baker's kitchen in Chichester. The specially-ordered sweet is a whopping 11ft 10in long, containing eight pints of double cream, and a kilogram of chocolate.
Made by ambitious bakers at The Swallow Bakery in North Street, Chichester, it could be the world's biggest, as the Guinness World Records organisation said no-one had achieved such a feat.
Manager at the bakery Alisha de Lacey was left with sore arms after helping to carry the monster eclair to a minibus parked up the road in North Street.
She said: "I think it is brilliant – I am really pleased we were asked. I'm quite competitive – we just want to be the best.
"I was trying to work out how many calories are in it, but I don't think I want to know.
"I know the average cup cake has 230 calories, but the actual eclair pastry doesn't have any sugar, it is more about the fat content.
"I would quite like to make the world's biggest cup cake now. If anyone has any other interesting ideas, let us know."
Bakers Lou Allen and Michaela Heard took four hours to carefully construct the pastry in the small kitchen, and then took more than an hour filling it with cream, and spreading the chocolate on top.
The order was placed by Rotherlea Care Home in Petworth as part of its Pick a Wish campaign, when residents write down their wishes and put them in a wish tin, with a winner being picked out each week.
Fred Beer (68) asked for the world's biggest eclair and was lucky enough to have his name drawn out.
Activities co-ordinator at Rotherlea, Ian-James Delves, said: "I contacted the Swallow Bakery and manager Alisha de Lacey was more than happy to help.
"Thanks to their generous support and the support of the team at Rotherlea, we have managed to make Fred's dream come true.
"According to the Guinness Book of Records there is no record for the biggest chocolate eclair, so we are hoping to set one."
World`s Longest Sausage Made In CroatiaAs part of the `Come to Vinkovci` project, the world`s longest sausage was made, measuring at 530 metres
Croatian cooksprepare to fry the longest (530 meters) sausage in the world in eastern Croatia`s town of Vinkovci some 250 km (244 miles) east of Zagreb, February 14, 2009.VINKOVCI, CROATIA –
The longest sausage in the world, measuring at 530 metres, was presented in the Eastern Croatian town of Vinkovci by the members of the `Slavonian Home Kulen-Kulin` association, as part of the `Come to Vinkovci` project. The sausage was fried in a vast 2.5-metre pan and was distributed to Vinkovci citizens once it was done. Other treats were available for the gathered crowd to enjoy, such as home wine and doughnuts.
Vinkovci citizens are planning to contact the Guinness book of recordsin order to break the current Romanian record, who prepared a nearly 400-metre long sausage.
With some help from Mother Nature and Japan's famously punctual train system, two Americans this week unofficially broke the Guinness world record for thelongest distance traveled by train in a 24-hour period.
"It feels good," said 24-year-old Corey Pedersen, a Montana native now living in Seoul, after he stepped off the Limited Express Relay Tsubame that delivered him and his traveling partner, 23-year-old Mike Kim from California, to Sendai, Kagoshima Prefecture, at exactly 9:27 p.m. Tuesday.
By that time the two had traveled for 23 hours and 55 minutes, covering a total distance of 2,901.4 km and bettering the existing record, which was set in 1992, by 58.9 km.
Guinness World Records regulations do not allow backtracking, and all trains used must be open to the public. Pedersen and Kim's journey started in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Monday evening, when they boarded the 9:32 p.m. Limited Express Nihonkai for an overnight ride north to Aomori. From there they rode an express to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, then connected to a shinkansen for Tokyo.
After a 20-minute layover in the capital, where Kim stocked up on bottled water, they boarded another bullet train for Hakata, Fukuoka Prefecture, and the connection to the Tsubame train.For most of the trains they were able to use JR Rail Passes, meaning their total outlay on train tickets was limited to ¥65,000.
"Every train departed exactly on time and arrived on time. I'd heard Japanese trainswere so punctual you could set your watch to them. That's why I chose to attempt the record here," said Pedersen, who had wanted to break a world recordfor about three years and had the train mark in his sights for around a year.
Still, breaking the record proved more difficult than expected. A similar attempt last month was frustrated when torrential rain near Nagoya caused the train they were riding on to stop for about 1 1/2 hours."This time there were just a few drops of rain. We were much more relaxed," Pedersen said.
While the record attempt has been approved by Guinness World Records, it will take another six to eight weeks for their "evidence package" — which includes sworn witness statements, copies of used train tickets, photos and video — to be officially checked.
"I'll be more relaxed when the record is made official," Pedersen said. "We've done everything at our end. Now we just have to wait for Guinness' judgment."
But before that, it was time for a proper meal. "We bought one 'bento' lunchbox in Hakata, but we were too nervous and didn't really have time to eat it," Pedersen said. "I'm looking forward to our first meal in 24 hours."A spokesman for East Japan RailwayCo., which operates some of the trains used in the record, said the carrier does not generally receive reports of such records and they were not aware of this particular attempt.
According to the company, the Guinness World Records declared that the Telstra Next G network is the world's fastest wireless broadband network, with peak network speeds reaching to 21 megabits per second. Additionally, Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo also unveiled the modemthat will actually access the network: the Turbo 21, displaying the device at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Guinness World Records' Chris Sheedy even balked at the sheer awesomeness of the modem's speed, saying that Telstra's achievement was phenomenal and "a real win for everyday Australians and Australian businesses."
"It is great to see an Australian company leading the way globally in the telecommunications industry," Sheedy added. "I've witnessed amazing recordsaround the globe, but this is the first time I've had the honor of announcing a record which delivers such tangible benefits to an entire nation."
Apparently, consumers hooked up to the blazing fast networkwith the new Turbo 21 modem will experience download speedsranging from 550 Kbps to 8 Mbps. However, Telstra said that consumers will see peak network downlink speeds increase even further to 42 Mbps on parts of the Telstra Next G networklater this year. Many businesses residing in the covered area can expect to pick up the Turbo 21 modem after February 23, with the rest of the business and consumer base able to jump onto the Next G networkin the coming months. All interested parties should head here to express an interest.
"These record breaking speeds mean it can take only six seconds to download a two megabyte video from BigPond or four seconds for a song," said Telstra Consumer Executive Director Jenny Young. "These new speeds will also be a boost for Australian business that can use the Turbo 21 modem to help save time, cut costs and increase productivity."
Previously Telstra Corporationset a Guinness World Record for having the fastest national broadband networkback in 2007, with speeds recorded up to 14.4 Mbps. However, the new technology will enable speeds up to four times faster than those from other Australian telecommunications companies, depending on network conditions. Opus, the nation's second fastest network, features a maximum speed of 7.2 Mbps; others range around 3.6 Mbps. However, the high velocity comes with a price, costing Telstra subscribers $59 per month for 1GB, whereas Opus offers 6GB download for $60 and 6GB for $40 from Vodefone.
Still, despite the hefty pricetag for the limited 1GB download limit, Telstra Networks and Services Group Managing Director Michael Rocca seemed rather elated over the Next G network and the speeds it achieves. "We've supercharged the Next G™ network to a peak network speed of 21 Mbps using HSPA+ technologybut this is just the beginning."
Mexico City puckered up to set a new record Saturday as nearly 40,000 people locked lips in the city center for the world's largest group kiss.
Carlos Martinez of Guinness World Recordsverified the record of 39,897 people who entered the gated kissing area of the city's Zocalo main square on Valentine's Day, besting Weston-super-Mare, an English town that set the previous kissing record in 2007.
"We did it! Long live Mexico," said Mexican singer-actress Susana Zavaleta, who serenaded the crowd before the kiss with the classic Mexican ballad, "Besame Mucho," or "Kiss Me a Lot" — also the name of the event.
The Valentine's Day kisswas meant to show love at a time when a crackdown against drug traffickers has led to widespread violence across the country. At least 6,000 people died in drug-related conflicts in 2008.
"More than 35,000 will simultaneously kiss to show that warmth and love are at the core of this capital, the heart of the Mexican Republic," the city's tourism department, which organized the gathering, said in a statement.
The event "is aimed at changing people's attitudes toward human relations, especially between couples, so that respect, equity and tolerance are at the center of any relationship," the statement said.
The giant Zocalo, which can hold 100,000 people, was half-filled as mostly young couples embraced and held one another in a lip lock for 10 seconds.
The kiss was delayed for several hours as organizers waited for people to gather. As the crowd grew, city workers in cupid wings offered hugs, teenage boys carried signs volunteering their kissing services and couples practiced openly in a country that surprises many with its pervasive public displays of affection.
"We love demonstrating our love in front of everyone and in front of our family," said Lucia Gutierrez, 38, who spent the afternoon rehearsing with Vicente Romero, 34, her boyfriend of 10 months. "There's nothing bad about showing your love."
Benito Zavala, 53, who works in a store nearby, said he didn't have time to go home to get his wife. So he planned to help set the record with his 2-year-old Chihuahua, Onix, who was licking his lips.
"It's a good idea because a lot of people feel the need to share their affection," Zavala said. "They already do it in the Metro, in the street, so I think it's best if they all do it together."
The event also included workshops on violence-free relationships and AIDS prevention. As soon as the kissing stopped, participants started chanting "Cente!" the nickname for Mexico's most popular ranchera singer, Vicente Fernandez, who followed the smooch-fest with a free concert.
Mumbai FC's 'Junior Champs' football championship has been officially recognized by the Limca book of records as the biggest football tournament in India. With a participation of 1,069 teams and 10,111 individuals, Mumbai has comprehensively beaten Kolkata, the previous record holders.
The annual tournament was organized by Mumbai FC for grassroots development and scouting talent.
Junior Champs was held from February-March 2008, across 16 zones in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai & Thane. It saw mammoth participation from all corners of Mumbai, as budding footballers turned up in full strength to exhibit their football skills in front of scouts present on each location.
All scouts were ex-international players who watched these young footballers and selected players who eventually represented Mumbai FC in tournaments such as the I-League for U-19 teams, Manchester United Premier Cup, MDFA Super division, etc.
Mumbai FC General Manager Henry Menezes says, "I am delighted that it's been verified and officially recognized. This recognition gives us immense satisfaction and motivates us continue our hard work at the grass-root level.
"With more tournaments like these, Mumbai is not far away from becoming a powerhouse in Indian football and doing our share to contribute young talent to the Indian national team", concluded Mr. Menezes.
The students from DAV Airoli set a record last year, by making biggest human map of our country ever. All the 870 participating students and 80 teachers made largest outline map measuring 51.5 X 36.9 meters at the Dadoji Konddev stadium last year.
It took days of hard work and preparation to hit a record like this. It was not just a shot at the record, as they made sure they kept everyone entertained, as 870 children dressed in various state costumes performed the regional dances and then made their way to that particular region marked on the map on the ground.
Soon the map was filled and an entry in the Limca Book of Records was complete. On Sunday February 1, at the grand finale of Kasber's Go Green event the Award was given to Rajeev Kumar, Principal, DAV Public school Airoli. All the teachers and students present at the grand finale gathered Kumar and held high the certificate of being registered at the Limca Book of Records.
The students' parade of DAV Airoli School present at the venue gave a salute to the winners in their style. It was a great moment for all the students and teachers for making the school and city proud by creating a record and getting registered at the Limca Book of Records.
Dorothy Dale Kloss, at 85, is billed in the Guinness Book of Records as the “Oldest ‘Still Performing’ Showgirl in the World.” She began dancing when she was three years old. As a precocious Chicago teenager, she taught a young Bob Fosse how to tap dance, won a tap contest herself at the renowned Miss Abbott’s Dance School and catapulted to stardom at the age of 15 with her own act in the Empire Room of the Palmer House.
She performed with the famed Eddy Duchin orchestra until his band members were drafted during World War II and then danced for the USO. Touring the United States and Mexico, she was on stage at various times with Liberace, the Mills Brothers, Mel Torme, Cantinflas, Howard Keel, Kay Starr, Frankie Laine and Chico Marx and was accompanied in her routines by such noted big bands as those of Ray Noble, Skinnay Ennis, Les Brown and Shep Fields (and his Rippling Rhythm).
In 1946, Dorothy became the hostess and dance instructress on television for Chicago’s WBKB and did the first tap numbers on the little screen.
She still does tap solos in her 14th season with the Fabulous Follies. Doting Dorothy has an admiring son and two granddaughters.
What is your favorite Route 66 recollection? “Driving with my mom, dad and two brothers on the historic road from Chicago to St. Louis, singing from a song sheet.”
MORE FUN FACTS:
She was paid $35 for the first week of the Empire Room gig and still has the canceled check. She used the money to buy a dress for her mother, who created her costumes.
Miss Abbott, who booked her, changed her name to Dorothy Dale (from Hunn).
She isn’t shy about what inspired her to audition at 70 for the Follies. “Money, success and fame,” she says and adds with a laugh, “Two out of three ain’t bad.”
And she doesn’t worry about her feet and body aching after a performance. “I soak them,” she quips mischievously, “in vodka.”
On a serious note, the most challenging experience of her life was being diagnosed with colon cancer two decades ago and making a full recovery after surgery. “I just never thought about it,” she says. “I just changed my thinking and my eating habits.”
Personable Dorothy has also put on shows for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and was director of guest services for the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
Everester Min Bahadur Sherchan has sought clarification from Guinness World Records (GWR) after the latter recognised Japanese national Yuichiro Miura as the oldest person to have scaled Mt Everest, the world's tallest peak.
Sherchan shot to fame as the oldest Everester after the historic ascent to the tallest peak on May 25. National and international media had covered his feat and the government recognised Sherchan, who was 76 years old at the time of record-breaking ascent, as the oldest Everest summiteer.
Though Sherchan had submitted documentary evidence of his achievement to the GWR through the government, the GWR recently recognised a Japanese mountaineer, Yuichiro Miura, as the oldest person to have climbed the peak. At the time of the ascent, Miura was 75.
“I will challenge the GWR decision to recognise Miura as the oldest Everester,” Sherchan said. “The record book should explain to me why it did not recognise me as the oldest Everester.”
On Friday, Sherchan visited the and Foreign Affairs to inquire about the reported recognition of Miura as the oldest Everester.
Officials told him they had forwarded documents related to his expedition to the GWR on time and that officials from the record book had said they had received the documents.
Thursday’s AFP report, however, said the title had gone to Miura as Sherchan had failed to submit required documents.
Sherchan suspected that government bodies might not have sent relevant documents on time. “I hope they stand by me this time,” Sherchan said.
Despite objections from family members, Sherchan had climbed the mountain at great risk to his life. “No one supported him but he said he was ready to face death to set the record,” her daughter Nirmala said.
The daredevil said climbing Everest was his wildest dream. “I did it to make the nation and senior citizens proud,” he says, adding that he had been harbouring that dream since childhood.
Interestingly, according to Sherchan, Miura had congratulated him after he scaled the peak two days before the Japanese citizen.
“I will do my best for recognition as the oldest Everest summiteer and hope to receive support from authorities concerned,” he said. “I will continue my campaign for peace even if my bid becomes unsuccessful.”
In 1975, at the Flint Hill School in Oakton, Va., a student gave Al Goddard a stuffed moose toy as a gift. The next week another student brought in a moose for Goddard, now a teacher at Bethesda's Landon School.
And so was born a 33-year tradition of moose for the 58-year-old, fourth grade teacher from Takoma Park. If he's lucky, that one random moose in 1975 may soon land him in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Goddard's classroom is now covered floor to ceiling with what he believes to be more than 1,000 pieces of moose paraphernalia, a Guinness record.
The Guinness goal began innocently enough: Landon student Alex Kimiavi, 10, of Great Falls, Va., was flipping through the record book when he came across the information for applying for recognition.
He brought the idea to Goddard, who thought it could be used as a learning opportunity. Since Kimiavi's discovery in September, Goddard has been crafting lessons around the many moose, teaching students to make the Powerpoint presentations and digital photographs necessary for the Guinness application.
In the coming weeks, the students will help Goddard take a full inventory of all the moose, one of the final steps in the application process.
Despite the classroom's small size, the inventory may be more difficult than it looks. There are stuffed moose, moose posters, and metal moose. A bumper stick that reads "Moose Springsteen: Born to Rut," with a cartoon moose standing in for the Boss in a version of Bruce Springsteen's famous album cover adorns one wall, while a sign welcoming students to "Moose Hall" hangs over the classroom's doorway.
Goddard estimated that he receives about 50 to 60 pieces a year from students.
The Guinness Book doesn't have a category for "most moose memorabilia," Goddard said, so the class isn't trying to take the crown from another moose-a-phile. As long as the class documents the moose accurately and provides the required paperwork, they will likely be accepted into the Book, Goddard said.
Inquiries to the Guinness Book of World Records were not answered.
Goddard is retiring this spring, so he couldn't wait to accumulate more moose items before applying for the record.
"It will be pretty sad, and I'll miss coming in here," Kimiavi said. "I was a fan of moose before kind of, but now I've learned a lot about them and I like them a lot more."
After retiring, Goddard will take many of the items with him, and he'll also auction some to raise money for the school.
Record collections
As Landon School teacher Al Goddard attempts to set a Guinness World Record for most moose memorabilia, some other record-setters from around the world have also found their collectable niche:
Largest collection of keychains: 41,418, by Brent Dixon of Valdosta, Ga.
Model cars: 8,128, by Michael Zarnock of Deerfield, N.Y.
Airplane sick bags: 5,468, by Niek K. Vermeulen of The Netherlands
Penguins (not live): 5,098, by Birgit Berends of Germany
US woman Lee Redmond is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for her long fingernails, which have not been cut since 1979.
Ms Redmond, from Salt Lake City, suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the accident, reports said.
The nails, which were broken as a result of the crash, measured a total of more than 28ft long in 2008, with the longest nail on her right thumb at 2ft 11in, according to the Guinness website.
Her nails were "damaged beyond repair", according to the Guiness World Records website.
Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lieutenant Don Hutson said Ms Redmond was ejected from a four-wheel drive vehicle in the crash and taken to the hospital in serious condition.
She has made a number of television appearances, including in episodes of Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley's Believe It or Not.
Alfie Patten's girlfriend Chantelle Steadman, 15, gave birth to Maisie Roxanne at the Eastbourne District General Hospital, East Sussex.
A Sussex Police spokeswoman said the force had looked at the case and decided it was "not in anyone's interests" for a prosecution to take place.
In a statement, police said: "Sussex Police Child Protection Team were aware of a 14-year-old girl that had become pregnant as the result of a relationship with a 12-year-old boy.
"A joint agency investigation with East Sussex County Council Children's Services has taken place which has considered the needs of both individuals and there will be continued support for these two young people in the future."
Thirteen-year-old Alfie is the latest in a long line of young UK teenagers to become parents.
The news that 4ft Alfie conceived baby Maisie when he was only 12 renewed calls for better sex education for the nation's children.
England has long had the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in western Europe.
Jenny Teague, of Dorset, was for many years regarded as the UK's youngest mum giving birth in 1997, aged just 12 to Sasha.
Zoe Hodgson, of Birstall, West Yorkshire, was 12 when she conceived and 13 when she gave birth in 2005 to son Leo, whom she used as inspiration to continue her studies, passing 11 GCSEs.
Edinburgh girl Samantha Robertson conceived her daughter Leigha at 14.
After giving birth and finding life difficult she launched "Sassy Mums" - a website for other young mothers.
Natalie Scanlan, 16, of Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, made national news in 2005 by giving birth to triplets. She went on to feature in a television programme about the nation's youngest parents.
Just launched auction alternative website wants to prove the auction format is alive and well despite what Ebay is having you believe. Vendazzle.com is going for the Guinness World Record for most new registered members to an auction site in a 60-day time frame. Record attempt will start on March 1st, 2009 and continue through April, 29th 2009.
http://www.Vendazzle.com, was started by Mike Kennedy, to be the sister site to already thriving video gaming dedicated auction site, http://www.ChaseTheChuckwagon.com. As explained by owner, Mike Kennedy, "after launching my video gaming auction site, members started asking for me to introduce an auction site for everything else". So Vendazzle.com was born in December of 2008. Now both sites have operated through their start-up/beta phase and are ready to be introduced on a large scale to the millions of people looking for a new auction destination, one without fees and corporate shenanigans and web-site red tape.
Vendazzle.com has taken the best of the auction format so successfully pioneered by Ebay, and has significantly reduced the cost of running auctions and selling. Vendazzle.com offers a familiar format and one that previous Ebay users will easily feel right at home. The benefits of using Vendazzle.com are many. There are no listing / insertion fees, low selling / final value fees, free multiple photo uploads, free seller storefronts and homepages, free seller auction promotional tools, an active community member forum and free bulk up loader round out the features.
Vendazzle.com wants to be more than an auction site, it wants to be an auction site community where buyers and sellers from around the World can once again meet and conduct friendly commerce in an affordable auction environment.
Please join us and register on Vendazzle.com and help us attempt to become the fastest growing auction website in history.
The Diamond Hall, the largest pillar-free auditorium situated at Shantivan, Abu Road, in Rajasthan, has found a place in Limca Book of Records as the largest hall in the country, according to a press release issued here by Prajapita Brahmakumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya.
The hall was constructed by the Prajapita Brahmakumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya in 1996 at a cost of Rs 3 crore.
The 8,988-sq ft auditorium which has a length of 137 meters and a width of 65.5 meters can accommodate over 20,000 people. It has 46 doors and translation facility for 22 languages.
More about Shantivan - The Sprawling Campuses
Forest of Peace. As you drive from Abu Road towards Mount Abu, you find to your left- just six kilometers away a magnificent Complex - known as Shantivan (Forest of Peace).
The new Complex was in response to the ever-growing world-transforming activities of the Brahma Kumaris through spiritual education and training. Equally important is the role of the Complex to provide an excellent venue for holding such programmes as conferences, spiritual congregations and educational and other retreats.
The main attraction of Shantivan is its awe-inspiringly massive Diamond Jubilee Hall, built in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the institution. Majestic in art, architecture and equipment, it has the distinction of having a very high seating capacity. It can accommodate about twenty thousand people!In addition to this gigantic structure, Shantivan has one main conference hall and six smaller halls.
The seating capacity of the conference hall is 1200 with facility for simultaneous translation in six languages. Each of the smaller halls can accommodate three hundred fifty for conducting lectures, seminars, workshops, etc.There are two intensive meditation halls and a spiritual museum which instantly inspire inner peace and are a source of super-sensuous joy, which is nowhere to be found in this mundane world.Residential buildings in the Complex have a capacity of lodging about fifteen thousand people .
Some of them have very significant names: Vardani Bhawan(The house of Blessings), Vishwa Kalyani Bhawan(World Benefactor House) and Farishta Bhawan ( House of Angels) - to mention only a few.Gyanamrit Bhawan ( House of the Nectar of Knowledge) houses the printing department. It is responsible for meeting the printing needs of the Institution. It is here that two of the monthly magazines of the institution - Gyanamrit and World Renewal - are published.Shantivan has in it all modern means of communication, transport, well-laid-out roads, electricity, and solar energy.
No account of a complex, providing lodging can be complete without making a reference to the arrangements for preparing and serving food. Shantivan has very big kitchens and dining halls with modern gadgets and equipments.
The name of city-based organisation Akhil Bhartiya Sanskrutik Sangh has been recorded in the Limca Book of Records for the largest number of shows in performing arts, claims the organisation.
The recognition comes after the festival called Global Harmony 2008, organised in Pune between May 21 and May 31, 2008. Around 4,500 artists from 18 Indian states participated in the festival, Sangh secretary Hemant Wagh said.
President of the organisation Ratna Wagh pointed that 900 individuals from 250 group performances and 150 duos performed during the festival. Aside from the dance performances, 35 drama shows were also presented during this time.
"Our organisation's name has been recorded in the Limca Book of Records after these performances. This recognition comes for the largest number of performances in performing arts," she said.
He was speaking at a press conference organised by the Sangh to inform about the recognition bestowed on it by the Limca Book of Records. "Our organisation is working for promotion of Indian culture and art forms. We are very glad to get this recognition," he said.
It was the mother of all snakes, a nightmarish behemoth as long as a school bus and as heavy as a Volkswagen Beetle that ruled the ancient Amazonian rain forest for 2 million years before slithering into nonexistence.
Now this monster, which weighed in at 2,500 pounds, has resurfaced in fossils taken from an open-pit coal mine in Colombia, a startling example of growth gone wild.
Modern boas and anacondas, which average less than 20 feet in length and reach a maximum of 30 feet, have been known to swallow Chihuahuas, cats and other small pets, but this prehistoric monster snacked on giant turtles and primitive crocodiles.
"This is amazing. It challenges everything we know about how big a snake can be," said herpetologist Jack Conrad of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who was not involved in the research.
The snake's estimated length, 43 feet, "is the same as the largest Tyrannosaurus rex that we know of, although it only weighs one-sixth as much," he said.
The find not only sheds new light on snake evolution; it also provides telling insights on climate. The snake flourished about 58 million to 60 million years ago. Because Titanoboa cerrejonensis, as it has been named, was coldblooded, the tropical climate had to be 6 to 8 degrees warmer than it is today for a snake that large to survive, said evolutionary biologist Jason Head of the University of Toronto at Mississauga, lead author of a paper on the fossils appearing today in the journal Nature.
The remains of several specimens of the snake are from a cache of fossils excavated from El Cerrejon coal mine in northern Colombia. Paleontologists are excited about the find because there are few fossils of tropical vertebrates from the period after the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
Most rock outcroppings that might contain fossils have been hidden by the region's dense foliage, said paleontologist Jonathan Bloch of the University of Florida, who identified the snake.
"The entire 10-million-year period following the extinction of the dinosaurs is a blank slate," he said.
Bloch and his students identified hundreds of specimens that had been dug from the mine, including "the largest freshwater turtle ever known" and "beautifully preserved skeletons" of an extinct species of crocodile "known to have been in South America, but never seen [there] before."
They also found fossils of a variety of fish, related to bonefish and tarpon, that would have lived in brackish seawater. "That indicates it was a big, riverine system close to the ocean," Bloch said.
They also found 28 snakes in the 42-to-45-foot range.
Titanoboa probably was the largest nonmarine creature on Earth during that period, Head said.
The turtles and crocodiles that the team excavated were probably the giant snake's primary diet, Head said.
Snakes are generally able to swallow prey that weighs about the same as they do, Conrad said. Titanoboa "could eat a large cow or a bison" -- if any had been around.
Instead, it probably had to settle for other reptiles, sliding into the water and gulping them down in ferocious strikes.
Because snakes and other reptiles are coldblooded -- technically, poikilothermic -- they rely on heat in the environment. Generally, the farther from the equator that a reptile lives, the smaller it has to be.
Extrapolating from the energy requirements of modern snakes, the team estimated that Titanoboa required an average temperature of 86 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit, somewhat higher than the modern average of about 83 degrees in coastal Colombia.
This sheds some light on current theories about what happens at the equator during periodic bouts of natural global warming. One school of thought holds that temperatures at the equator are buffered, staying relatively constant while more northern and southern latitudes heat up.
"These findings support the idea that with a warmer world, the equator was also warmer," Bloch said.
Researchers now believe that the climate got even hotter after the time of the Titanoboa, perhaps hastening the snake's demise.
"Big animals went extinct because it simply got too hot," Conrad said. "This helps us to understand that the effects of global warming aren't just rising sea levels."
Sheyla Hershey's massive 38KKK breasts have been declared the world's biggest boob record,
The 28-year-old, a Texas housewive, has had nine operations to get her up to this size. She traveled to Brazil to get her last procedure which took her from an FFF to a KKK after Texas officials refused to do it, for fear that her breasts could explode.
Hershey, from Houston, said: "To me, big is beautiful. I don't think I have anything to worry about." Hershey is now in record books for having the biggest breast implants ever.
Still, Hershey wanted more! And she was determined to get it. When her boyfriend begged her to stop, she broke up with him. But Hershey was forced to settle with her FFF mosquito bites because "the state of Texas has limits on the amount of silicone that can be injected into breast implants," noted ABC. Reading this, we found ourselves impressed by Texas, because we didn't think it was the kind of state to impose limits on such things, what with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and the state priding itself on everything being bigger there and whatnot. But, as Hershey discovered through diligent research, they have no such restraint in Brazil! And so now, after a ninth surgery, she's the proud owner of both a 38KKK bust (according to Britain's Daily Star) and the world record for largest breasts.
Gayathri Ashok of Bangalore attempted to make it to the Guinness Records by doing the bridal hairstyle in just 58 seconds.
Gayathri, who comes from a very modest background, aims to cash in on this aspect of Indian marriages on her road to fame.
It took just her 8.5 seconds to make a bun and four seconds to make a French style hair-do.
She managed to don the bridal look, complete with a sari, the traditional Indian drape, bridal hair-do, make up and jewellery in just 58 seconds.
"I come from a rural background. I used to see many television programs demonstrating how to get ready for a wedding. I learnt many things watching the television. My family and friends encouraged me to take it up as a hobby. Today, I am attempting a Guinness Book of World Records," said Gayathri.
The footage of the show has been sent to Guinness authorities. Gayathri said that if she makes a record, it would be a tribute to the modern woman.
Marriages in India are usually prolonged affairs and families spend months preparing for the day.
But changing socio-economic conditions have influenced middle-class to adopt liberal lifestyles and young adults are now trying to cut down on various cumbersome rituals and traditions. By Jaipal Sharma
American grandmother Linda Wolfe has become "the most married woman in the world" after walking down the aisle 23 times, and is now "on the lookout for number 24".
