Check out some of the cool records highlighted in the 2004 edition:
TALLEST ROLLER COASTER
Top Thrill Dragster, a hydraulically launched out-and-back 'strata-coaster' at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, USA, reaches a height of 420 feet and has a maximum design speed of 120 mph. It opened in May 2003 and cost $25 million.
HIGHEST PAID TV GUEST STAR
The world record for the highest amount paid to an actor to guest star on a TV show is Matthew Perry,who was paid $765,900 for appearing on FOX's Ally McBeal (USA). The 2-hour episode was broadcast on April 15, 2002 and Perry played the character of Todd Merrick.
OLDEST LIVING INDIVIDUAL TREE
The oldest living individual tree is the ancient Bristlecone Pine "Methuselah" (Pinus longaeva)
which is 4,733 years old. It was found by Dr. Edmund Schulman (USA) in the White Mountains, California, USA and dated in 1957.
SMALLEST DOG
The world's smallest dog living is Whitney, a Yorkshire terrier who measured 3 inches to the shoulder and 9.5 inches from nose to tail-tip on November 26, 2002. Whitney is owned by Christopher and Patricia Sheridan of Shoeburyness, Essex, UK.
FASTEST ASCENT OF MOUNT EVEREST (SOUTH SIDE)
Lakpa Gelu Sherpa (Nepal) made a successful ascent of Mt Everest in 10 hr 56 min 46 sec on 26 May 2003, the fastest ever climb from base camp to the summit of the world's tallest mountain.
HIGHEST PRONE SKATEBOARD SPEED
The highest speed recorded on a skateboard is 78.37 mph in a prone position by Roger Hickey, 32, on a course near Los Angeles, California, USA on March 15, 1990.
YOUNGEST SOLO TRANSATLANTIC SAILOR
Sebastian 'Seb' Clover (UK, b. 15 January 1987) sailed across the Atlantic Ocean single handedly between Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, and English Harbour, Antigua & Barbuda, aged 15 years 362 days, from 19 December 2002 to 12 January 2003.
