GWR - Loudest purr by a domestic cat

Smokey has now recieved the Guinness World Record

 for the Loudest purr by a domestic cat at 67.7 dB (LA peak).

This was announced on 5th May 2011.

The history of Guinness World Records

The story behind Guinness World Records all began about 55 years ago near a  town called County Wexford in Irleand. During a shooting Party a discussion arouse as to what was the fastest flying game bird in the world. Could it be a Plover or a Grouse? Attending the party was Sir Hugh Beaver Managing director of the Guinness Brewery. When the guests were unable to find the answer to this question in the extensive  library in the country house in which they were staying Sir Hugh Beaver decided that a book should be created full of statistics containing World Records for the largest, fastest, smallest of everything in the world and theidea for the Guinness World Records book was born.

The answer to the question is that the Grouse is the winner as it flys at speeds of up to 63mph or 100km per hour.

Sir Hugh Beaver inlisted the help of two identical twins called Norris and Ros McWhirter. These men were keen statasticians and enjoyed collecting facts and figures and were the ideal choice to help prepare the first edition of the now famous book.

On 27th August 1955 the first edition of the Guinness Book of Records was created and by Christmas it was a best seller. The first book only had one colour picture and that was of Mount Everest the Worlds tallest Mountain ( 29,029ft or 8,848m high)

Facts about Guinness World Records

120 million copies of the book have been sold.

It is the Worlds best selling copyrighted book.

4 million copies of the book are sold each year.

It is the 3rd best selling book of all time after the Koran and the Bible.

It is available in 26 different languages in 100 countries.

11 million visitors to the website www.guinnessworldrecords.com Smokey is currently featured on their website. See explore records and then click on extraordinary records.

Over the years the name has now changed to Guinness World Records from Guinness Book of Records to encompass the fact that it now includes the TV and internet.

65,000 enquires are recieved every year.

4,000 records are featured in every book (Smokey is featured in the "Stop Press" section on the 2012 book)

30,000 Records are featured on the data base.

5,000 World Record claims are made every week however 75% of these are rejected and 25% are put forward for consideration.

The 2013 copy of Guinness World Records is now out. So grab your copy. Will make an ideal Christmas Present.