The History of the Guinness World Records™

In 1951 Sir Hugh Beaver, who was at that time the manager of Guinness Brewery, was involved in bet about which was the fastest bird in the world — the golden plover or the grouse? Beforehand there had been numerous missed shots in a hunting party which Sir Hugh had been a part of. He quickly discovered that there were no reference books available which could answer this or similar types of questions. This experience convinced Sir Hugh that there must be countless questions of this nature that presented reason for disagreement in the pubs of Great Britain and Ireland night after night. On 12 September 1954, he commissioned the London-based statistics agency Norris and Ross McWhirter to compile a collection of records. The 198-page first edition of the Guinness Book of World Records was published on 27 August 1955 and by Christmas of the same year it reached the top of the bestseller lists.