Going to Extremes

What is “extreme”?

Here are the meanings:
1. Reaching a high or the highest degree; very great

    – not usual; exceptional

    – very severe or serious

    – far from moderate, especially politically

    – a sport involving great risk

 2. Furthest from the centre or a given point

Who is the tallest man in the world?

What is the highest mountain in the world?

How small is the smallest dog in the world?

How much time can a person survive without sleeping?

What are the riskiest sports?

These and many other amazing things can be found in this book!

Bertie the fastest tortoise

The highest mountain

Randy Gardner (record holder)

Asha Mandela Guinness World Record Holder “Longest Dreadlocks”

Who: CHISATO IWASAKI
Where: JAPAN, HIROSAKI CITY, AOMORI
When: 24 OCTOBER 2005

The heaviest apple weighed 1.849 kg (4 lb 1 oz) and was grown

and picked by Chisato Iwasaki

at his apple farm in Hirosaki City, Japan October 24 2005.

Tallest man – living

The tallest man living is Sultan Kösen (Turkey, b.10 December 1982) who measured 251 cm (8 ft 2.8 in) in Ankara, Turkey, on 08 February 2011.

The part-time farmer was the first man over 8 ft (2.43 m) to be measured by Guinness World Records in over 20 years.

Indeed, GWR only knows of 10 confirmed or reliable cases in history of humans reaching 8 ft or more.

Sultan first became the world’s tallest living man in 2009, when he measured 246.5 cm (8 ft 1 in) in height.

Smallest dog living (height)

The Cullinan Diamond

We know the Cullinan Diamond today best as the nine different gems it created, which are scattered throughout the British royal collection. But once upon a time, it was one giant diamond!

It was found by Mr. Frederick Wells in South Africa on January 26, 1905.

The Cullinan Diamond – named for the owner of the mine, Thomas Cullinan – was a massive 3,106 carats in its uncut state. It weighed about 1 1/3 pounds and measured just under 4 inches long, over 2 inches wide, and more than 2.5 inches high. And if that’s not enough, many experts believe that it’s actually only a portion of a larger diamond which has never been found, indicated by the stone having one flat side.

Bungee jumping – one of the riskiest sports!

Bungee jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that has the ability to hover above the ground.

The thrill comes from the free-falling and the rebound.

When the person jumps, the cord stretches and the jumper flies upwards again as the cord recoils, and continues to oscillate up and down until all the kinetic energy is dissipated.

New high-altitude skydiving world record

Google exec, Alan Eustace, has broken the 128,100-ft (39,045-m) high-altitude skydive record.

Jumping from a balloon at 135,890 ft (41,419 m) above Roswell, New Mexico, Eustace also set new world records for vertical speed and freefall distance.

The ascent took two hours and seven minutes, with Eustace spending around half an hour enjoying the view before cutting himself free of the balloon at 9:00 on October 24, 2014 and arriving back on solid ground 14 minutes and 19 seconds later.

World’s Strongest Man

Brian Shaw is a three-time winner of the World’s Strongest Man competition, taking home the first place title in 2011, 2013, and 2015. He’s also one of the largest athletes on the planet.

The 33-year-old Colorado native clocks in at a hulking 415 pounds and is 6’8″ tall, which makes sense when your job involves pulling trucks and lifting 300-pound stones.

Bee hummingbird – the smallest bird in the world

The diminutive bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is the smallest living bird in the world.

Bee Hummingbirds (Mellisuga helenae) are only 5 to 6 cm long and weigh just 1.6 to 1.9 g (a small coin such as a U.S. penny weighs around 2.5 to 3 g). The male Bee Hummingbird is the smallest of all birds and can easily be mistaken for a bee.

Bee Hummingbirds are found only in Cuba.

They feed on nectar from a range of flowers, as well as on insects. The tiny nest is constructed 3 to 5 m above the ground on a thin twig and is often decorated on the outside with lichens.