Unit4-Part3-Reading

Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, which was called the Guinness Book of Records until 2000, is a

reference book that is published annually.

It contains a collection of world records of both human achievements and the extremes

of the natural world.

Interestingly, the book itself holds a world record as the world's biggest selling book

with a copyright.

It sells about 3 .5 million copies a year in 23 languages in 100 countries.

Since it was launched nearly 60 years ago, more than 130 million copies have been sold.

The book's history began at a hunting party in Ireland on November 10, 1951, when Sir Hugh

Beaver, the director of the Guinness breweries, couldn't shoot a bird.

He then got into an argument with his friends about the fastest game bird in Europe.

That evening, he looked for a reference book that contained an answer to the question,

but he could not find one, so he thought of creating such a book himself.

At that time, he knew two sports journalists who provided facts and figures to newspapers

in London.

In 1955, Beaver founded the Guinness Book of Records in London, where the first edition

was bound and published on August 27.

With 197 pages, the book made it to the British best -seller list by Christmas.

The following year, it was launched in the U .S. where it sold 70 ,000 copies.

Soon after, the book began to be published in various languages.