On January 10, Chef Faila Abdual Razark completed her attempt to break the Guinness World Records for the longest culinary marathon at 9 days and 11 hours.
7 Guinness World Records You Didn’t Know About; Number One Will Shock You
She will be the third Ghanaian to attempt to set a Guinness World Record in the past month.
However, what many may not know is that Ghana has a long history of Guinness World Records in various fields, dating back to 1969.
Let’s take a closer look at some world records of Ghana or Ghanaians.
1. Most Missed Penalties By An Individual During The FIFA World Cup (excluding penalties)
Asamoah Gyan, Ghana’s all-time top scorer, twice found himself in the record books for missing penalties at the World Cup.
In 2006, during Ghana’s first World Cup appearance in Cologne, Germany, Gyan missed a penalty. He hit the post from the penalty spot in a match against the Czech Republic on 17 June.
But the most painful penalty that Gyan missed and that the Ghanaians could not forget came in the quarter-final against Uruguay during the 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted by South Africa. Gyan hit the crossbar in a match that could have made Ghana the first African country to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup.
Ghana lost 4-2 on penalties. The match of July 2, 2010 ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time.
2. First Application Of DNA Profiling
The Guinness World Records reports that a British scientist, Sir Alec Jeffreys, developed the DNA fingerprinting method at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and published an article on its applications in Nature (vol. 314, 67-73; March 7 1985). ).
The first practical use of the DNA method occurred in 1985, when it was used to establish the paternity of a child – a Ghanaian involved in an immigration dispute.
The youngest son of a Ghanaian family living in Britain had gone to Ghana, but when he returned to Britain he was suspected of having a fake passport or being someone else.
Sir Alec used DNA reconstructions from known relatives to prove the boy had the same father as the rest of the family, records show.
3. Fastest Time To Overcome Ten Obstacles While Carrying A Person On Your Head
Two Ghanaian acrobats, Daniel Ashitey Amarh and Richard Mensah Ofori, broke records in 2011.
They achieved the best time by crossing ten obstacles while carrying a person on their head (standing on one foot). They did it in 21.83 seconds on the set of Lo Show Dei Record in Milan, Italy on April 27, 2011.
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4. First Brothers To Face Each Other In A FIFA World Cup
The Boateng brothers (Kevin and Jérôme Boateng) made history and broke records at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
The brothers played against each other at the World Cup, making them the first siblings to face each other in a World Cup match.
The brothers were born in Germany to a Ghanaian father and were raised by different mothers in Berlin, but Kevin-Prince Boateng played for Ghana and Jérôme Boateng for Germany, making them the first brothers to face each other at the FIFA World Cup in Ghana. against Germany in Johannesburg, South Africa, June 23, 2010.
The two spent a lot of time together growing up, but each decided to represent a different country at the highest level of football.
5. Largest Reservoir – Surface Area
In 1969, Guinness World Records recognized Lake Volta as the largest man-made lake in the world by surface area.
The lake was created by the construction of the Akosombo Dam, completed in 1965. In 1969, the lake covered an area of 8,482 km (3,275 mi), with a coastline of 7,250 km (4,500 mi).
6. The Brightest Living Objects In The World
According to Records, the brightest living objects in the world are found in Ghana.
These are the fruits of the spotted berry Pollia condensata – an herb that can grow up to 1 meter high and originates from Ghana.
Records describe this herb as having fruits that resemble the shiny ornaments used to decorate Christmas trees. They say that scientific studies have shown that these shiny metallic blue fruits reflect approximately 30% of total (non-polarized) light, compared to a silver mirror.
This is the highest light reflectance of any biological material, including bird feathers, beetle shells and even the brilliant blue produced by the wing scales of Morpho butterflies, data shows.
7. General Elections In Ghana, 2004
The general election that took place in Ghana was also included in the Guinness World Records in December 2004 as part of all elections held that year.
Records show that in 2004 the highest number of votes were cast for several elections around the world.
More than 1.1 billion voters participated in 58 presidential and parliamentary elections. The first took place in Georgia, where the presidential elections took place on January 4, and the last in 2004 took place in the third round of the presidential elections in Ukraine, on December 26.
Elections took place in Ghana on December 7.