The book of records was born to settle a pub argument

Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of Guinness, was out shooting in County Wexford, Ireland, when he missed a shot at a golden plover. That sparked the argument: was the plover the fastest game bird in Europe, or was it the grouse? They searched the house's encyclopaedias for the answer. It wasn't there.

The scene stayed with Beaver. He reckoned that in pubs across the country there must be thousands of arguments like that one every night — who, how much, which is the biggest, the fastest, the farthest — and no book to settle them. So in 1954 he commissioned two twin journalists, Norris and Ross McWhirter, famous for their memory for facts, to compile it.

The first edition of the Guinness Book of Records was published in August 1955. It was conceived as promotional material: a volume to give away to pubs, with the beer's name on the cover, to serve as referee between regulars. By Christmas of that same year it was the best-selling book in the United Kingdom.

Decades later, it remains one of the best-selling books in history. All because of a bird that flew too fast.