Wacky world records tumble around globe

updated 8:34 a.m. ET Nov. 12, 2009

LONDON - Manjit Singh, a 59-year-old security consultant from Leicester, England, known as the "Ironman," on Thursday pulled a double-decker bus weighing more than eight tons over a distance of 23 yards with his hair.

The record was set in central London to coincide with the fifth annual Guinness World Records Day, which organizers said prompted thousands of people around the world to set some bizarre benchmarks of their own.

For Singh, his latest achievement makes up for the disappointment of 2007, when he failed to break the record for the longest distance to pull a double-decker bus with the ears.

"I will never be discouraged by defeat, because I know that success can be waiting around the next corner," he said. "The only way to get there is to try again and stay positive."

Also in London, 112 commuters put aside their English rush-hour reserve to set a record for the most people hugging for a minute, while Shaun Jones won the title for the fastest hot water bottle burst at 18.81 seconds.

Pasta feat
In Italy, a new fastest time was set for eating a bowl of pasta (one minute 30 seconds) and in Norway the largest ever gingerbread man was made weighing 1,435 pounds. In Finland, people from 76 nationalities squeezed into a single sauna.

Not everyone was successful, however. In Australia, 228 people were not enough to break the largest bikini parade record. Guinness World Records is considered the authority on world records, and its book has sold over 100 million copies.

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