The first Guinness Book of Records was published
On this day · 27 August 1955
A brewery boss wanted to settle pub arguments, so he commissioned a book of superlatives that became a global bestseller.
On 27 August 1955, the first edition of The Guinness Book of Records was published, complete with a preface by its co-founders, twin brothers Norris and Ross McWhirter. The slim, green-covered volume ran to 198 pages and answered a deceptively simple need: a single, authoritative reference for the kinds of trivia people argued about over a drink.
The idea traced back to Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of the Guinness Brewery. After a 1951 shooting party in Ireland, he found himself disputing which was Europe’s fastest game bird and discovered no book could settle it. He reasoned that thousands of such arguments raged nightly in pubs, and that a reference of records would make an ideal promotional giveaway for Guinness.
What began as a brewery marketing stunt became one of the best-selling copyrighted books in history.
Beaver hired the McWhirters, who ran a London fact-finding agency, to compile it. By Christmas the book topped the British bestseller list, and the franchise has reinvented itself for new generations ever since.
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