10 Amazing Guinness World Records Set in Massachusetts
Massachusetts is known for some pretty remarkable things. From historical landmarks to championship sports teams and stunning landscapes that only New England could offer.
Besides the obvious, there are a few lesser-known accomplishments that have put Massachusetts on the map and in the book, the Guinness Book of World Records that is. Some amazing records have been set or broken by some extraordinary Massachusetts residents that have made their way in the hall of fame of world records.
According to the book, over 50 records are held or were broken in Massachusetts or by Massachusetts people but we'll run down ten for you.
The Cape Cod Canal is the widest canal in the world. Seventeen miles long and 540 feet wide, it was constructed between 1909 and 1916.
John Kelly holds the record as the fastest marathon dressed as a videogame character (Yup, that's a thing apparently) He did this at the Boston Marathon in 2016 with a time of 2 hours and 57 minutes. Kelly had dreamed of running in the Boston Marathon and wanted to combine it with his childhood dream of being the videogame character Link, the hero of Hyrule.
Ray Tomlinson, an engineer at a Cambridge computer company sent the first-ever electronic message, what we know now as an email, in 1971. Here's what the first email was: "QWERTYUIOP."
The largest stir-fry weighed 1,818.91 kg (4,010 lb) and was achieved by the University of Massachusetts Dining Services in Amherst, on 5 September 2011. The pan the stir-fry was cooked in was 4.27 meters in diameter (14 feet) and 45.72 centimeters deep (18 inches). The main chef for the event, Jet Tila, is a previous record holder for the largest stir-fry, set in September 2004.
At the North Shore YMCA in Marblehead, Ron Cooper managed to do the most push-ups in one minute while carrying a 60-pound pack. He broke the pull-up record, too.
Worcester is home to the world's longest-surviving two-faced cat (known as a Janus cat) who lived to be 15 years old. Frank and Louie had two functioning eyes, two noses, two mouths, and one brain. The pair ultimately died of cancer.
In May of 2016, the largest gathering of people wearing tie-dye was achieved at Fenway Park in Boston. The Business Professionals of America (USA) did it, with 1,500 people showing up to the historic ballpark wearing tie-dye.
Allan Ganz who operates his business in Everett and Malden lays broke the record for the longest career as an ice cream man. Allan joined his father's ice cream truck and started selling at the age of 10 in 1947. Ganz continued working with his dad until he was 19 and after a 22-month stint in the armed forces, he returned to selling with his dad and hasn't stopped serving since.
Kelly and Michael Bostwick of Palmer hold the record for having the longest officially released song. The song is named "In the Garden," and it's three hours, one minute, and 50 seconds long.
Through an immense amount of research and data science, humans produced the first-ever direct image of a black hole in Cambridge. 29-year-old computer scientist Katie Bouman is credited with largely developing the algorithm used to capture the historic image.