Explore world record numbers across human achievements, nature, space, mathematics, technology, and wealth. Fascinating facts and figures from around the world.
World Record Numbers
Tallest person ever: 2.72 m (8 ft 11 in) (Robert Wadlow, 1940)
Shortest adult ever: 54.6 cm (21.5 in) (Chandra Bahadur Dangi, 2012)
Oldest person ever: 122 years, 164 days (Jeanne Calment, 1997)
Fastest human (100m): 9.58 seconds (Usain Bolt, 2009)
Longest fingernails ever: 8.65 m (28 ft 4 in) total (Lee Redmond, 2008)
Most children by one mother: 69 children (Valentina Vassilyeva, 1700s)
Tallest tree: 115.92 m (380.3 ft) (Hyperion (coast redwood), 2006)
Deepest ocean point: 10,994 m (36,070 ft) (Challenger Deep, Mariana Trench, Measured)
Highest temperature recorded: 56.7°C (134°F) (Death Valley, California, 1913)
Lowest temperature recorded: -89.2°C (-128.6°F) (Vostok Station, Antarctica, 1983)
Largest living organism: ~2,385 acres (Honey fungus (Armillaria ostoyae), Oregon, 1998)
Fastest animal: 389 km/h (242 mph) (Peregrine falcon (diving), Measured)
Distance to nearest star: 4.24 light-years (Proxima Centauri, Known)
Speed of light: 299,792,458 m/s (Universal constant, Exact)
Age of the universe: 13.8 billion years (Observable universe, Estimated)
Largest known star: ~1,700 solar radii (UY Scuti, 2012)
Most distant object seen: 13.4 billion light-years (GN-z11 galaxy, 2016)
Largest known prime number: 2^136,279,841 − 1 (41,024,320 digits) (GIMPS project, 2024)
Most digits of pi memorized: 70,030 digits (Suresh Kumar Sharma, 2015)
Fastest mental multiplication: Two 8-digit numbers in 1.8 seconds (Various competitors, Recent)
Largest number with a name: Graham's number (Ronald Graham, 1971)
Fastest computer: ~1.2 exaflops (Frontier (Oak Ridge), 2022)
Most transistors in a chip: ~114 billion (Apple M2 Ultra, 2023)
Smallest transistor: ~2 nm (IBM/Samsung (experimental), 2021)
Most websites online: ~1.98 billion (World Wide Web, 2023)
Richest person ever (inflation-adjusted): ~$400 billion (Mansa Musa, Mali Empire, ~1324)
Most expensive painting sold: $450.3 million (Salvator Mundi (da Vinci), 2017)
Largest company by market cap: ~$3+ trillion (Apple Inc., 2024)
28 records
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