Love Lane » Love and marriage Love and marriage Tarmak Films ltd Love and marriage ♥ Older men are far more likely to be married than older women. Seventy per cent of men aged 65 and over live as part of a couple (according to the last census), whereas only 40 per cent of women do so. This reflects the tendency for women to outlive their husbands. ♥ The age-group most likely to find love abroad are the over-sixties. Almost 10 per cent of holiday romances lead to wedding bells. ♥ Minnie Munro became the world’s oldest bride when she married Dudley Reid at the age of 102 on May 31, 1991. Reid, the groom, was 83 years old. ♥ Harry Stevens became the world’s oldest groom at 103 when he married 84 year old Thelma Lucas at the Caravilla Retirement Home in Wisconsin on December 3, 1984. ♥ The longest engagement was Sixty-seven years, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The happy couple finally wed at age 82!

♥ Most recent research indicates just about 9,000 romantic couples each year take out marriage licenses, then fail to use them. ♥ The most popular song for the first dance at weddings has been found to be Bryan Adams hit ‘Everything I Do’. ♥ A survey revealed that more than 10,000 marriages a year can be directly traced back to romances that begin during coffee breaks. ♥ Ever wondered why people refer to getting married as “tying the knot”? Well the expression dates back to Roman times, when the bride wore a girdle that was tied in knots and the groom then had the fun of untying on their wedding night. ♥ It’s commonly believed a man picks out a wife who reminds him of his mother while a woman picks out a husband who reminds her of her father. But that’s not right. Recent research indicates both the man and the woman are most influenced in their selection of matrimonial mates by their mothers. If a woman regards her mother as stern, she’s likely to go for a stern husband. If she thinks of her mother as gentle, she looks for a gentle husband. The father of the bride or groom just doesn’t have all that much to do with it, poor fellow.

♥ There’s a curious difference in the ways that single girls and bachelors pick their romantic partners. The girl might have a dozen boyfriends, none of whom seems to be like another or anything like the sort of fellow she eventually winds up marrying. But the young bachelor is inclined to select all his ladyfriends, including finally his wife, for their similar qualities. ♥ According to Anita Diamant, author of The New Jewish Wedding, there are no Jewish laws regarding where a wedding may or may not take place. During the Middle Ages, some weddings were even held in cemeteries, since it was believed the life-affirming act of marriage could halt plagues. ♥ London Times, February 1840. Queen Victoria’s wedding cake was more than nine feet in circumference. A second tier rose from this “plateau,” supported by two pedestals. On the second tier was a sculpture of the mythical heroine Britannia gazing upon the royal pair frozen at the moment of their exchanging vows. At their feet were two turtle doves (symbolizing purity and innocence) and a dog (representing faithful attachment).

Completing the scene were various sculpted Cupids, one of them writing the date of the wedding with a stylus on a tablet. ♥ Eighty-five percent of all Canadian brides receive a diamond engagement ring, giving Canada the highest diamond engagement ring acquisition rate in the world. ♥ The most married man in history, in the monogamous category, was Glynn Wolfe, a former Baptist minister from Blythe, California. He was married twenty-eight times. ♥ The most married woman in history, in the monogamous category, was Linda Lou Essex from Anderson, Indiana, who was married twenty-two times. ♥ The most notorious bigamist on record is Giovanni Vigliotto, who married one hundred and four women. He was convicted for fraud and bigamy and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, plus a fine of $336,000. ♥ The youngest couple ever to marry was an eleven month old boy and a three month old girl who were married in Bangladesh in 1986. The marriage was arranged in order to settle a twenty year feud over a disputed piece of farmland. ♥ Two couples share the record for the longest marriage in history.

Sir Temulji Bhicaji Nnman and Lady Nariman were married from 1853 until 1940, when he died. Lazarus Rowe and Molly Weber were married in Greenland, New Hampshire in 1743 and remained married until 1829, when she dies after their having been married for 86 years. ♥ The largest mass wedding was held in The Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea where 35,000 people were married in a ceremony officiated by Sun Myung Moon. Another 325,000 couples around the world participated in the August 25, 1995 event via satellite link. ♥ Richard and Carol Roble are the most re-married couple. They wed each other 56 times, beginning in 1969. ♥ The most fantastic gift of love is the Taj Mahal in India. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife, who died in childbirth. Work on the Taj began in 1634 and continued for almost 22 years. required the labor of 20,000 workers from all over India and Central Asia.

♥ The worst place for love and romance to survive is the United States. They hold the record for the highest divorce rate in the world (4.6 per thousand) . . . . so Good Luck! ♥ The number of marriages in England and Wales that were the first marriage for both partners peaked in 1940 at 426,100 when 91 per cent of all marriages were the first for both partners. This number has since fallen to 144,120 in 2006, accounting for 61 per cent of all marriages. ♥ The number of marriages in England and Wales that were the first marriage for both partners peaked in 1940 at 426,100 when 91 per cent of all marriages were the first for both partners. This number has since fallen to 144,120 in 2006, accounting for 61 per cent of all marriages. ♥ On average, couples get engaged two years, 11 months and eight days into their relationship. However, women feel ready for marriage even earlier two years, seven months and 24 days to be precise.

One in ten of the 3,000 engaged or married participants in the study that produced these figures had set a time limit on their engagement; 75 per cent of them would have shown their partner the door if it hadn’t been kept to. ♥ The average wedding in the UK now costs £20,273, according to a study by You and Your Wedding Magazine. This includes £7,724 for the reception, £3,220 for the honeymoon, £1,412 for the engagement ring and £1,242 on drinks. Doing the dishes together is one of the keys to a happy marriage, according to a survey by the Pew Research Centre of 2,000 Americans. Sharing the housework came third behind faithfulness and sex in the most popular factors for a happy union, even beating money, children and a nice home. ♥ The Himba people of Namibia kidnap a bride before the ceremony and dress her in a leather marriage headdress. After the ceremony she is brought into the house where the family tells her what her responsibilities will be as the wife and then anoint her with butterfat from cows. This shows that she has been accepted into the family.

♥ The notion of marriage as sacrament can be traced to St Paul, who, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, compared the relationship of a husband and wife to that of Christ and his church. ♥ The Marriage Act 1836 and the Registration Act 1836 came into force in 1837 in England and Wales. There were 118,000 marriages in the first full year of civil registration in 1838 in England and Wales. ♥ One single woman in five is thought to be stashing away money for her wedding even without having found a groom. ♥ Scientists believe they have found the gene needed for a happy marriage after studying rodents’ mating habits. Men carrying a common variation of a gene involved in brain signalling were more likely to be in unhappy marriages than men with the other version, the team at the Karolinska Institute found. ♥ At a Hindu wedding, the bride’s hands are painted with henna with a design which often includes the initials of her betrothed. The couple then search for the initials on the wedding night. This game is played to make the bride and groom more relaxed and at ease with each other.

♥ Polyandry is a practice where a woman is married to more than one man at the same time. Fraternal polyandry was traditionally practised among nomadic Tibetans in Nepal and parts of China, in which two or more brothers shared the same wife. Polyandry is believed to be more likely in societies with scarce environmental resources, as it is believed to limit human population growth and enhance child survival. Rings: ♥ Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Until the 15th century, only kings wore diamonds, as a symbol of strength, courage, and invincibility. In India, where the diamond was first discovered , it was valued more for its magic than its beauty and was believed to protect the wearer from fire, snakes, illnesses, thieves, and great evil. ♥ The most expensive wedding on record was a seven-day celebration of the marriage of Mohammed, son pf Sheik Rashid Ben Saeed Al Maktoum, to Princess Salama. The wedding took place in Dubai and the bill came to $44 million. ♥ Do you know why we wear our engagement and wedding rings on the fourth finger of the left hand?

The tradition dates back to ancient Egypt as they believed the vein of love runs from this finger directly to the heart. ♥ The tradition of the diamond engagement ring comes from Archduke Maximillian of Austria who, in the 15th century, gave a diamond ring to his fiancée, Mary of Burgundy. ♥ The custom of giving a ring can be dated back to the ancient Romans. It is believed that the roundness of the ring represents eternity. Therefore, the wearing of wedding rings symbolizes a union that is to last forever. It was once thought that a vein or nerve ran directly from the “ring” finger of the left hand to the heart. Be Sociable, Share! Guinness Book of Records 1999: Part One - Amazing people; THE LOOK PRESENTS A FASCINATING THREE-PART SERIES TO PULL-OUT AND KEEP. - Free Online Library Guinness Book of Records 1999: Part One - Amazing people; THE LOOK PRESENTS A FASCINATING THREE-PART SERIES TO PULL-OUT AND KEEP.

Page URL: HTML link: <a href=" Citations: MLA style: "Guinness Book of Records 1999: Part One - Amazing people; THE LOOK PRESENTS A FASCINATING THREE-PART SERIES TO PULL-OUT AND KEEP.." The Free Library. 1998 MGN LTD 05 Jan. 2017 Chicago style: The Free Library. S.v. Guinness Book of Records 1999: Part One - Amazing people; THE LOOK PRESENTS A FASCINATING THREE-PART SERIES TO PULL-OUT AND KEEP.." Retrieved Jan 05 2017 from APA style: Guinness Book of Records 1999: Part One - Amazing people; THE LOOK PRESENTS A FASCINATING THREE-PART SERIES TO PULL-OUT AND KEEP.. (n.d.) >The Free Library. (2014). Retrieved Jan 05 2017 from The Guinness Book Of Records is one of the world's biggest-selling books. It's the ultimate authority on the most extra-ordinary facts and figures of life on our planet.

For the next three weeks, you can collect fascinating extracts from the 1999 edition free in The Look. That's hundreds of facts and figures - from the most amazing people and animals to the marvels of the modern world. In this, our first part, we reveal everything you ever wanted to know about human life - who are the oldest, fastest, heaviest, tallest and shortest people ever? What's the length of the longest hair? The size of the biggest feet? And who has the most toes? To find out, read on... Tallest people The tallest ever person was an American called Robert Wadlow who was 8ft 11in in his socks. He would probably have exceeded 9ft in height had he survived for another year. The tallest living British man is Christopher Greener, who is 7ft 61/4in tall. The tallest woman ever was Zeng Jinlian of Hunan Province in China, who was 8ft 11/4in when she died in 1982. The tallest living woman is American Sandy Allen, who is currently 7ft 71/4in in height and weighs 33st.

Shortest twins At 2ft 10in John and Greg Rice are the world's smallest twins. Being short has not stopped them becoming hugely successful, though. They made their fortunes as real estate speculators in Florida, USA, in the '70s, and now own and run a multi-million dollar motivational speaking company called Think Big which organises seminars on creative problem solving. Most children born to one mother The greatest number of children officially recorded to one woman is 69. Mrs Feodor Vassilyev (born 1707 in Shuya, Russia) gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quads (the greatest number of multiple births in one family). Only two of the children - all born between 1725 and 1765 - failed to survive its infancy. In the UK, Elizabeth Greenhille of Abbots Langley, Herts, who died in 1681, is said to have given birth to 39 children (seven sons and 32 daughters).

The British record for the current century is 22 children to both Margaret McNaught (born 1923) of Balsall Heath, Warwicks (12 boys, 10 girls), and Mabel Constable (born 1920) of Long Itchington, Warwicks. Her births included one set of triplets and two sets of twins. Most children in a single birth A record ten children (two boys and eight girls) are reported to have been born in Brazil on April 22, 1946. Reports of ten children in one birth were also received from Spain in 1924 and in China in 1936. The record for the greatest fully-authenticated number of children ever produced in one birth is nine to Geraldine Bradrick at the Royal Hospital for Women, Sydney, Australia, on June 13, 1971. None of the five boys and four girls lived for more than six days. The birth of nine children was also reported in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1971 and in Bangladesh in 1977. No children survived in either case.

Longest interval between the birth of two children The record for one mother is 41 years by Elizabeth Buttle of Carmarthenshire. She gave birth to a daughter, Belinda, in 1956, and a son, Joseph, on November 20, 1997, when she was 60. Shortest interval between two births The record between two births at separate confinements is 209 days to Margaret Blake of Luton, Beds, who gave birth to a boy on March 27, 1995 and a girl on October 23, 1995. Oldest mother Rosanna Dalla Corta of Viterbo, Italy is reported to have given birth to a baby boy at the age of 63 in 1994. Arceli Keh is also said to have been 63 when she gave birth at the University of Southern California in 1996. Both women received fertility treatment. Heaviest single birth Anna Bates of Canada gave birth to a 23lb 12oz boy in Seville, Ohio, USA, in 1879.

Lightest single birth Marian Taggart holds the record for the lowest birthweight ever for a surviving infant, at 10oz. She was born six weeks premature in Tyne and Wear in 1938. The 12in child was fed hourly for her first 30 hours with brandy, glucose and water through a fountain pen filler. Most premature baby James Gill was born 128 days premature to Brenda and James Gill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on May 20, 1987. He weighed 1lb 6oz - about the same size as a dozen eggs. Most living ascendants Megan Austin from Bar Harbour, Maine, USA had a complete set of grandparents, great-grandparents and five great-great-grandparents (a total of 19 direct ascendants) when she was born in 1982. SHORTEST PERSON EVER The shortest ever fully-grown human was Gul Mohammed of New Delhi in India. In 1990, aged 29, he was 1ft 10in in height and weighed 2st 9lb. He died aged 36 of a heart attack after a long struggle against asthma and bronchitis.

Mohammed had a lifelong dislike of children, who sometimes bullied and robbed him. Not surprisingly, he also had a great fear of dogs and cats. LONGEST FINGER NAILS The world's longest fingernails are those of Shridhar Chillal of India who last cut his nails in 1952. At the end of March 1997 the nails of his left hand, from the thumb to the little finger, were 4ft 7in, 3ft 7in, 3ft 10in, 4ft 1in and 4ft long. Frances Redmond (left) has the longest fingernails in America. They have grown to 19in in 12 years. OLDEST LIVING PERSON At 119, Sarah Knauss is the oldest person alive. Born on September 24, 1880 in Hollywood, a small mining village in Pennsylvania, USA, she now lives in a nursing home. Six generations of her family celebrated her last birthday with her.

Longest beards Hans Langseth had a record breaking 17ft 6in beard at the time of his death in Iowa, USA in 1927. The beard was presented to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington in 1967. Janice Devere from Bracken County in Kentucky had a 14in beard in 1884, the longest of any "bearded" lady. Longest moustache Kalyan Ramji Sain of India began growing a moustache in 1976. In July 1993 it had a total span of 11ft 11in. Most artificial joints US woman Norma Wickwire, who had rheumatoid arthritis, had eight of her 10 major joints replaced from 1976 to 1989. Most fingers and toes A baby boy was found to have 14 fingers and 25 toes at an inquest held in London in September 1921. Least toes Some members of the Wadoma tribe of Zimbabwe and the Kalanga tribe of Botswana have only two toes.

Biggest feet The person with the largest feet is Matthew McGrory from Westchester, Pennsylvania, USA, who wears (UK) size 28 shoes. McGrory is 25 years old and stands 7ft 6in tall in his huge socks which are knitted by his mother Maureen. He has to have his shoes specially made for him by trendy sports manufacturer Converse. Biggest chest Isaac Nesser of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, has a record chest measurement of 6ft 21/16in. He has been lifting weights since he was eight and has worked out every day for the past 20 years. Biggest biceps The right bicep of Denis Sester of Bloomington, Minnesota, measures 305/8in when cold. He started building his biceps when he began wrestling pigs on his parents' farm as a teenager. Longest human tail In 1889 Scientific American described a 12-year-old boy who had a soft tail measuring 1ft in length. In ancient literature there are several mentions of adults having tails of 6-7in. Today they are removed at birth.

Longest ears The men and women of the Suya tribe in Africa wear large discs of wood in their ears in order to elongate them. When they take them out they wrap their dangling earlobes around their ears. Longest-living two-headed person The two-headed boy of Bengal was born in 1783 and died of a cobra bite at the age of four. His two heads, each of which had its own brain, were the same size and were covered in black hair at their junction. Hairiest woman Julia Pastano, who was born in an Indian tribe in Mexico in 1834, was covered in hair, apart from her eyes. She was exhibited to the public in the US, Canada and Europe and was mummified after her death. Most breasts The greatest number of distinct breasts is ten. Between 1878 and 1898 a total of 930 cases of multiple breasts were reported. Heaviest brain The world's heaviest brain weighed 5lb 11/10oz and belonged to a 30-year- old man in Ohio.

It was reported by Dr Mandybur of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA in December 1992. The lightest "normal" or non-atrophied brain on record weighed 1lb 8oz. It belonged to Daniel Lyon, who died in New York in 1907. He was just over 5ft tall and weighed 10st 5 lb. Smallest waists The smallest waist of a person of normal height was 1ft 1in for Ethel Granger of Peterborough in 1939. The 19th-century French actress Emile Marie Bouchand also claimed a waist measurement of 1ft 1in. Most pierced man Alex Lambrecht has acquired a total of 137 piercings with a combined weight of 1lb 2oz over a period of 40 years making him the world's most pierced man. The estimated cost of all his piercings would have been pounds 6,850 - but he did them all himself.

Oldest person ever The greatest fully authenticated age to which a human being has ever lived is 122 years, 164 days by Jeanne Calment of France. She died on August 4, 1997. Most dissimilar couple When 3ft 1in Natalie Lucius married 6ft 2in Fabien Pretou at Seyssinet- Pariset, France, in 1990, there was a record height difference of 3ft 1in between bride and groom. Longest engagement Octavio Guillen and Adriana Martinez from Mexico finally got married in June 1969, after a 67-year engagement. Both were 82 years old when they wed. Youngest married couple In 1986 it was reported that an 11-month-old boy had been married to a three-month-old girl at Aminpur, Bangladesh to settle a 20-year family feud. Oldest groom Harry Stevens was 103 years old when he married 84-year-old Thelma Lucas at the Caravilla Retirement Home, Wisconsin, USA, in December 1984.

Oldest bride Minnie Munroe became the world's oldest known bride when she married Dudley Reid at the age of 102 at Point Clare, NSW, Australia, on May 31, 1991. The groom was a mere 83. Longest married couple Paul Onesi, 101, and his wife Mary, 93, were married in Clymer, Pennsylvania, USA in 1917. In January 1998 they celebrated their 80th anniversary, becoming the longest married couple in America. For the past 51 years the couple, who never celebrate Valentine's Day, have lived in Niagara Falls, North America's so-called honeymoon capital. Longest period survived without bread and water Andreas Mihavecz of Bregenz, Austria, lived for a record-breaking 18 days without food and water after being put in a holding cell in a local government building in Hochst by the police on April 1, 1979, and then being totally forgotten about. The 18-year-old, who had been a passenger in a crashed car, was discovered close to death on April 18.

Most pills taken The record for the greatest number of pills known to have been taken by one patient is 565,939 by CHA Kilner of Zimbabwe between June 9, 1967 and June 19, 1988. This works out at an average of 73 tablets per day. It is estimated that if all the pills he had taken were laid out end to end they would form an unbroken line two miles 186 yards long. Longest hiccoughing fit Charles Osbourne from Anthon, Iowa, USA began hiccoughing in 1922 while he was trying to weigh a pig for slaughter. He continued until February 1990 - 68 years. He was unable to find a cure, but led a normal life, marrying twice and fathering eight children. Longest sneezing fit Donna Griffiths from Pershore, Hereford and Worcester, UK, started sneezing at the age of 12 on January 13, 1981 and sneezed an estimated one million times the following year.

She did not have a sneeze-free day until September 16, 1983. Loudest snorer Kare Walkert of Kumala, Sweden, who suffers from the breathing disorder apnea, recorded peak noise levels of 93dBA while he was asleep at a hospital in May 1993. Most injections received Samuel Davidson from Glasgow has had at least 78,900 insulin injections since he was aged 11 in 1923. Before the invention of insulin - first used on humans in 1922 - diabetes was usually fatal. Biggest blood transfusion Warren Jyrich, a 50-year-old haemophiliac, required a record 2,400 donor units of blood - the equivalent of more than 285 gallons - during open heart surgery at the Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, in December 1970. Largest tumour A tumour weighing 21st 61lb and 3ft in diameter was removed intact from a 34-year-old American woman's abdomen in October 1991.

It had been growing for eight years, according to Dr Kate O'Hanlon of Stanford University, California. Most extreme case of Munchausen's Syndrome British man William McIIroy had the most extreme known case of Munchausen's syndrome, an incurable condition characterised by a constant desire for medical treatment. In 50 years McIlroy had 400 operations and stayed at 100 hospitals under 22 aliases costing pounds 2.5 million. World's biggest gallbladder The world's biggestgallbladder weighed 23lb and was removed from a 69-year-old woman by Professor Birmal C Ghosh at the National Naval Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland, USA on March 15, 1998. The patient recovered and left the hospital ten days later. The oldest person to undergo an operation James Henry Brett Jnr underwent a hip operation at the age of 111 in Houston, Texas on November 7, 1960. Longest coma Elaine Esposita from Florida fell into a coma at the age of six after an appendectomy on August 6, 1941.

She died at the age of 43 on November 25, 1978 after being unconscious for 37 years 111 days. Longest dream The longest period of REM sleep (which characterises dream sleep) lasted three hours eight minutes. It was achieved by David Powell at the Paget Sound Sleep Disorder Centre in Seattle, Washington on April 29, 1994. Longest post-mortem birth On July 5, 1983 a baby girl was delivered from a woman who had been brain dead for 84 days in Virginia, USA. Longest period survived underwater In 1986 two-year-old Michelle Funk from Salt Lake City, Utah, USA survived one hour six minutes underwater. She had fallen into a creek. Most bizarre use for a body part King Charles I's fourth cervical vertebra was stolen by a surgeon during an autopsy and fashioned into a salt cellar. The novelist Sir Walter Scott used it at diner parties for 30 years until Queen Victoria found out and ordered that it be returned to St George's Chapel, Windsor.

Most extreme cases of compulsive swallowing In 1927 a 42-year-old woman complaining of "slight abdominal pains" was found by doctors at Ontario Hospital, Canada to have 2,533 objects, including 947 bent pins, in her stomach. The heaviest object ever to have been taken from a human stomach is a 5lb 3oz hairball, from a 20-year-old British woman on March 30, 1895. Lowest body temperature ever Two-year-old Karlee Kosolofski registered a record low body temperature of 57.5F on February 23, 1994. Karlee, of Saskatchewan, Canada had been accidentally locked out of her home for six hours in a temperature of -8F. She suffered frostbite and had to have part of her left leg amputated. Some people have died of hypothermia with a temperature of 95F.

Highest body temperature ever On July 10, 1980 - a day on which the temperature reached 90F - Willie Jones, 52, was admitted to Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, USA with heatstroke and a body temperature of 115.7F, the highest ever recorded. He was discharged after 24 days. Highest dry-air temperature borne In US Air Force experiments carried out in 1960, the highest dry-air temperatures endured by naked men was 400F, while heavily-clothed men could tolerate 500F. By comparison, the hottest bearable sauna is about 284F. Highest G Forces borne On July 13, 1977 at Silverstone race track, Northamptonshire, racing driver David Purley decelerated in a crash from 108mph to zero in a distance of 2ft 2in. He was subjected to 179.8G, suffering 29 fractures and three dislocations. Most lightning strikes survived The only person to have ever been struck by lightning seven times is Roy Sullivan, from Virginia, USA.

The strikes occurred between 1942 and 1977. In September 1983 he committed suicide, reportedly after being rejected in love. Longest fall survived without a parachute On January 26, 1972 Yugoslavian air hostess Vesna Vulovic fell a record six miles 551 yards from a DC-9 airliner in which she was travelling, and survived. MOST PIERCED WOMAN By January 31, 1998, just one year after getting her first piercing, Grace Martin from Edinburgh had 290 piercings over her entire body. OLDEST LIVING TWINS Kin and Gin Kanie became Japan's most famous twins in 1992 when they celebrated their 100th birthday, prompting the mayor of their home town, Nagoya, to call a press conference reminding people of the need to respect the elderly. Now 105 years old, they still appear on local television. WORLD'S BIGGEST BABY In September 1996, 17-month old Zack Strekert, the largest known baby in the world, appeared on American TV with parents Chris and Laurie from Goshen in New York.

He weighed in at an astonishing five stones - a weight not attained by some boys until they are 14. Zack's elder brother Andrew weighed 5st 9lb at the age of seven. LONGEST NECKS The women of the Padaung or Karenti tribes in Burma extend their necks by putting copper coils around them. The maximum recorded length is 15 3/4ins. Worn in an increasing number from the age of five or six, the coils can reach 20lb in total weight. LONGEST HAIR Hu Saeloo, an 85-year-old tribesman from Chiang Mai province in Thailand, is one of several people in the world claiming to have the world's longest hair. It is a tradition in this part of Thailand for men to have very long hair. Saeloo has not cut his locks for more than 70 years and it is now 16ft 10in long. GREATEST COVERAGE BY TATTOOS Tom Leppard, a retired soldier who lives alone on the Isle Of Skye, has had 99.9 per cent of his body tattooed with a leopard skin design.

The only parts of his body which remain free of tattoos are the insides of his ears and the skin between his toes. The heaviest woman ever American Rosalie Bradford is reported to have registered 85st in January 1987, before beginning a strict diet after developing congestive heart failure. The heaviest man ever The heaviest person in medical history was Jon Minnoch from Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA, who was 6ft 1in in height and weighed more than 100st when he was rushed to hospital suffering from heart and respiratory failure in 1978. The heaviest man alive Albert Jackson from Canton, Mississippi, USA, claims the title. He weighs 63st 9lb and measures 9ft 8in around the waist, 5ft 10in around the thighs and 2ft 5in around the neck. Most weight lost Jon Minnoch reduced his body weight from 100st to 34st in the 16 months to July 1979.

The greatest weight loss by a woman is 65st 7lb by Rosalie Bradford (USA), the heaviest-ever woman, when she reduced from 85st in January 1987 to 20st by February 1994. In 1984 Ron Allen sweated off 1st 71/2lb from his weight of 17st 1lb in 24 hours in Nashville, Tennessee. Most weight gained Doris James from San Francisco, California, is alleged to have gained 23st 3lb in the 12 months before her death in August 1965 aged 38. She then weighed 48st 3lb and was 5ft 2in tall. The greatest weight gained by a man was 14st in seven days by Jon Minnoch (see Most Weight Lost), the heaviest man in medical history, in 1981 World's greatest strongmen Iceland's Magnus Ver Magnusson won the world's strongest man contest four times in 1991, 1994, 1995, and 1996.

Born in 1963 he is 6ft 2in tall weighs 20st 7lb and has a chest measurement of 51in. Jon Pall Sigmarsson, also from Iceland, won the title four times in 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1990. As well as that, he won five World Muscle Power titles, but died while weightlifting in 1993. Best travelled person John D Clouse, a lawyer from Evansville, Indiana, USA, has visited all of the sovereign countries and all but three of the non-sovereign or other territories that existed in early 1998. John's son George began travelling at the age of 10 weeks and had been to 104 countries by his fifth birthday. Highest tightrope walk Mike Howard, a 32-year-old Briton, walked between two hot air balloons at a height of 18,800ft over Marshall, Michigan, USA.

Longest bungee jump A record 820ft bungee was used by Gregory Riffi during a jump from a helicopter above the Loire Valley, France, in February 1992. Riffi's cord stretched to a length of 2,000ft during the jump. Fastest woman In the women's final of the 100m at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Florence Griffith-Joyner was timed at 0.91 sec for each 10m from 60 to 90m (a speed of 24.58mph). Youngest person to visit both poles British boy Robert Schumann went to the North Pole at the age of 10 on April 6, 1992 and the South Pole at the age of 11 on December 29, 1993. Oldest person to fly Charlotte Hughes of Redcar, North Yorkshire, was given a flight on Concorde from London to New York as a 110th birthday present in 1987. She flew again in 1992, aged 115.

Oldest parachutist Hildegarde Ferrera became the oldest ever parachutist when she made a tandem parachute jump at the age of 99 at Mokuleia, Hawaii, in 1996. Longest backwards run Arvind Pandya of India ran backwards 3,100 miles across the USA - from Los Angeles to New York in a time of 107 days between August 18 and December 3, 1984. He also ran backwards from John O'Groats to Land's End - a distance of 940 miles - in a time of 26 days 7 hours from April 6 to May 2, 1990. Longest walk Arthur Blessitt from North Fort Myers, Florida, USA has walked a total distance of 32,202 miles in more than 27 years since 1969. Carrying a 12-foot cross and preaching throughout his walk, he has been to all seven continents, including Antarctica. Fastest speed The record for the greatest speed at which a human being has ever travelled is 24,791 mph.

It was achieved by the command module of Apollo 10 - with Col T Stafford, Cdr E Cerman and Cdr J Young on board - at the 75-mile altitude interface on its trans-earth return flight in May 1969. Longest stilt walk The greatest distance ever covered on stilts is 3,008 miles by Joe Bowen from Los Angeles, California to Bowen, Kentucky from February 20 to July 26, 1980. Longest walk on water Remy Bricka from Paris walked across the Atlantic Ocean on 13ft 9in skis. He left Tenerife in the Canary Islands on April 2, 1988 and arrived in Trinidad in the Caribbean on May 31, 1988, after covering 3,502 miles. Longest kiss Mark and Roberta Griswold, of Michigan, USA, kissed each other for a record 29 hours. They remained standing and went without rest breaks, during a kissing contest in New York from March 24 to 25 in 1998.

LARGEST WAIST Walter Hudson from America had a 9ft 11in waist in 1987. On a typical day he would eat 12 doughnuts, 10 packets of crisps, two giant pizzas or eight portions of food from a Chinese takeaway, plus half a cake. WORLD'S FASTEST MAN Jamaican Donovan Bailey won an Olympic gold at the 1996 games in Atlanta, USA, setting a new 100m world record of 9.84 sec, reaching a top speed of more than 27mph. SAVE pounds 5 ON BUYING THE BOOK WITH THE LOOK Now you have had a taste of one of the world's best-selling books, you can buy the complete 1999 edition at a discount price of pounds 12.99 including postage and packaging (RRP pounds 18). To take advantage of this special Look offer, simply call the Guinness credit card hotline on 01256 302684 (weekends only) or 01256 302699 (weekdays only). Don't forget to have your card details ready.

Please allow up to 28 days for delivery. NEXT WEEK...Part two of our unique series AMAZING RECORD-BREAKING ANIMALS l The fish that produces 30 million eggs in one go l The bird that grows 9ft tall and can weigh 345lbs l The spider so strong it can resist a force 38 times its own weight l The moth larva which eats 86,000 times its birthweight in 56 days l The sharks that can smell blood diluted 100 million times COPYRIGHT 1998 MGN LTD No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder. Copyright 1998 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Article Details

Question: How old was Harry Stevens when he married at the Caravilla Retirement Home, Wisconsin in 1984?
Answer: 104