California Guinness World Record Holders In 2017

When you think of the Guinness World Records, perhaps the Las Vegas woman with the longest fingernails in the world comes to mind. Or how about the tallest man alive? Standing more than two heads over everyone at 8 feet, the tallest living man is currently in Turkey.

The Guinness World Records is still the yardstick by which all feats of strength, endurance and the truly bizarre are measured.

In total, 647 Guinness World Records were held or were broken by Californians in 2016, according to the Guinness World Records. In 2017, a few new additions make this list even more astounding.

• Guinness World Record Set In San Francisco Commemorating Summer of Love: Thousands of people gathered to form a lotus flower to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the "Summer of Love" in San Francisco.

• Largest Recorded 'Surf Circle of Honor': In Huntington Beach, we saw 511 surfers brave the pounding surf to meet out beyond the waves and form the largest Surf Circle in the Guinness Book of World Records. Many local surfers noted that this number was by no means the largest gathering of surfers, but according to the Huntington Beach International Surf Museum, it was the largest number gathering with Guinness World Records on hand.

• Walnut High educator Jerry Knox broke 3 Guinness World Records in 2017: Running the fastest marathon while jumping rope with a time of 4:20:31 on February 19 and the fastest marathon wearing German lederhosen at the Los Angeles Marathon on March 19.

• On Sept. 7, 2016, the most fruit and vegetables donated in a 24-hour time frame was 493,977 pounds, achieved by Visit Sacramento. The food will be donated to 220 partner agencies and area food banks for distribution this fall.

• Huntington Beach, an ideal place to enjoy a bonfire on the beach, was the spot of the most people making s'mores simultaneously in an event sponsored by SeriousFun Children's Network and Hollister. Four-hundred twenty-three attendees of the SeriousFun camp roasted and enjoyed their record breaking s'mores on April 21, 2016.

• San Diego saw the most high-fives in one minute this year, with 290 documented hand slaps. This, overseen by Kaiser Permanente of San Diego, was accomplished on April 21, 2016.
• Alameda was the roadway for the largest parade of hybrid cars. Three-hundred thirty-two hybrid vehicles, organized by Northern California Toyota Dealers Association, made a successful parade across the grounds of a former U.S. Naval Base on April 23, 2016.

• Fremont resident Owen Farmer, of American High School, solved the most Rubik's cubes while riding a unicycle. Yes. It was a real thing, and it took more than three hours to complete the feat of riding, balancing and solving 117 of the puzzles.

• Fullerton, in Orange County, saw the largest gathering of organ transplant recipients at California State University, Fullerton. Three-hundred fourteen participants who gathered were recipients of either heart, intestine, kidney, liver, lung or pancreas transplants.

• Los Angeles resident Derek Westerman played the longest video game marathon on a virtual reality game, an attempt that took 25 hours and two minutes to achieve. He played "Tilt Brush" for the entire attempt on April 7, 2016.
• The most golf balls hit more than 300 yards in one hour was achieved by Lynn Ray, to raise money for the Santana High School boys and girls golf team on March 4. Four-hundred fifty-nine total balls were hit.

• Katy Perry, who holds the record for the most followers on Twitter, registered 90,153,456 subscribers to her newsfeed. This "California Gurl" has held the record since 2014. Her other records include most-watched Superbowl Half Time Show and the Most Just Dance appearances by one artist.

• Feb. 22, 2016 saw the most-watched movie trailer of all time. The clip of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was viewed by 88,956,907 Star Wars fans.

Have you attempted a Guinness World Record? Let us know!