How to get into the Guinness Book of World Records

Today is Guinness World Records Day, a day when hundreds of thousands of people worldwide attempt to break standing records. And some ambitious people invent entirely new categories of records to break.

Kim Partrick, Head of Records Management at Guinness World Records, explained the history of the day to Yahoo.  “Guinness World Records Day is a commemoration of the day in 2004 when the Guinness World Records book officially became the bestselling copyrighted book of all time,” she said.

There are more than 40,000 records in the Guinness database, but there's only room for a few thousand in the famous print version of the book. “Every week we get about a thousand applications from around the world from people wanting to break existing records or create new records,” Partrick said.

Yahoo’s very own Justine Underhill broke a record in-studio for “most bars of soap stacked in one minute.” The bars had to be soaked in water prior to the challenge, increasing its difficulty level. Underhill successfully stacked 11 slippery bars, besting the standing record of ten.

Partrick monitored the event and presented Underhill with a plaque after her feat. Partrick and other Guinness officials can't officiate every attempt. “Over 99 percent of our records are done without the presence of a Guinness World Records adjudicator in person,” she said.

Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App

Partrick said that anyone who wants to attempt a record should contact Guinness to receive a set of rules and instructions. “We would require, for example, independent witnesses being present to verify the guidelines are being followed. We also review video evidence, log books…all of that sort of evidence, depending on what the record is,” she explained.

Guinness doesn’t notify existing record holders if their accomplishments are officially broken, but Partrick noted that the Guinness website is updated with each new record-breaking feat.