The year 2022 was the latest in a recent string of particularly unusual years, so with that in mind UPI Odd News is proud to close out the year by presenting the 10 oddest Guinness World Records of 2022.
Most drink cans placed on head using air suction
Jamie Keeton, aka "Canhead," or "Canpa" to his grandchildren, used air suction to affix 10 empty beverage cans to his face and shaved head, earning the record when the cans remained in place for at least 5 seconds.
"I actually have a skin condition that's not named yet where my skin pores literally suck in oxygen," Keeton told Guinness World Records.
Most eggs balanced on the back of the hand
Ibrahim Sadeq of Nasiriyha, Iraq, managed to balance 18 eggs on the back of his hand, equaling the record originally set by Jack Harris of Britain in May 2020, making the two men co-holders of the record.
"You need to have a high level of focus when attempting such a record, which is difficult to achieve," Sadeq said. "Add to that the pain and pressure your hands go through, I needed to be ready for that moment."
Fastest time to find and alphabetize the letters in a can of alphabet soup
Jacob Chandler of Oregon found all 26 English-language letters in a can of alphabet soup and placed them in order in 2 minutes and 8.6 seconds after researching unusual Guinness World Records to impress his son, Brycen.
Chandler said the most difficult aspect of practicing for the record was learning to identify the subtle differences between letters like "M" and "W."
Farthest tightrope walk in high heels
Vermont teenager Ariana Wunderle, who has been performing with a youth circus since the age of 2, donned 4-inch high heels and walked 639 feet 7 inches across a tightrope at Bellows Falls Union High School in May, while she was a senior at the school.
Wunderle's feat demolished the previous record of 49.2 feet, which was set by Russian performer Oxana Seroshtan in 2014.
Fastest time to eat 10 Carolina Reaper chilies
Iron-stomached California man Gregory Foster 10 Carolina reaper chilies -- the hottest peppers in the world -- in 33.15 seconds.
Foster, who previously earned a world record by eating three Carolina reapers in 8.72 seconds, scarfed down 10 of the intimidatingly hot peppers in a face-off with friend and fellow pepper enthusiast Mitch Donnelly.
Largest gathering of people with the same first and last name
Japan's Same Name Association of Hirokazu Tanakas, founded in 1994 by Hirokazu Tanaka, 53, managed to gather 178 people who share the name at an October gathering in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
The founding Tanaka had attempted the record before in 2011 and 2017, but this year marked the first time he was able to beat the previous record of 164, which was set by a gathering of people named Martha Stewart in 2005.
Farthest distance to blow a pea
Serial record-breaker David Rush earned his 250th Guinness World Records title when he used the breath in his lungs to blow a pea a distance of 84 feet and 11.28 inches across a level floor.
Rush, who made headlines for breaking 52 records in 52 weeks in 2021, first held the same record years earlier, when he blew a pea 24 feet and 7.6 inches. The record was broken at least three times in the ensuing years before Rush recaptured the title.
Longest journey by pumpkin boat (paddling)
Duane Hansen climbed into a hollowed-out pumpkin on the Missouri River the day after his 60th birthday and paddled the unusual vessel for a distance of 37.50 miles from Bellevue, Neb., to Nebraska City.
Hansen's pumpkin boat journey broke the record set at 25.5 miles by North Dakota man Rick Swenson in 2016.
Fastest time to assemble Mr. Potato Head
Lim Kai Yi of Butterworth, Malaysia, put his award-winning puzzle solving skills to an unusual test when he took a fully-disassembled Mr. Potato Head toy and put all of the pieces in the proper spots in 5.43 seconds.
Yi previously earned record titles including the fastest time to solve a 4x5 Klotski puzzle blindfolded and the fastest time to complete a Soma cube blindfolded.
Competitors in the 2022 National Beard and Moustache Championships in Casper, Wyo., teamed up to have their beards clipped together into a chain that measured a record-breaking 150-foot chain of facial hair.
The chain beat a record of 62 feet and 6 inches, which was set in Germany in 2007.
