The Channel Wire

July 03, 2008

Firefox 3, the open-source browser from Mozilla, has officially joined the rarified air that is the Guinness Book of World Records. The inclusion in Guinness comes after Mozilla launched a clever marketing campaign to set a world record for most software downloaded in a single day. Using the site SpreadFirefox.com to recruit people to pledge their support to download the software, Download Day became something of a Web phenomenon.

The world record, which Guinness has confirmed, was set by Firefox 3 and tallied 8,002,530 downloads in its first 24 hours. Download Day occurred on June 17. Since the initial 24-hour Download Day window, an additional 20 million people have downloaded the software, putting it over 28 million downloads worldwide.

It's important to note, however, that Mozilla created the software download category. Guinness World Records had never had an attempt on downloads in a single day.

But there are, of course, other categories that Guinness rightfully boasts about and Firefox 3 joins the elite ranks of people like Lucky Diamond Rich, a sword swallower living in Australia who set the record for "Most Tattooed Person," with over 1,000 hours of ink work done on his body.

Some other records of note that Firefox 3 will be mentioned alongside include:

Isa Isaa, who completed the world's fastest game of Operation in 1 minute and 2 seconds at an event held by the British Association of Urological Surgeons in 2001.

Firefox 3 can also now be mentioned in the same breath as John Cassidy, who set a world record in 2006 for "Fastest Modeling Balloon Dog" in 6.5 seconds.

If balloon sculpting isn't prestigious enough, there's always the category "Heaviest Weight Dangled From A Swallowed Sword." Matthew Henshaw first swallowed a non-retractable sword measuring 15.9 inches then proceeded to dangle a bag of potatoes weighing 44 pounds 4.96 ounces from the handle of the sword for 5 seconds in 2005.

In animal news, the "Largest Millipede," according to Guinness, is an African giant black millipede that measured 15.2 inches. Not quite a Firefox, but close.

And finally, Mozilla can look forward to drinking cocktails with Bernie Baker at Guinness World Record Holder receptions. Baker, at age 60 in 2000, set the world record for "Oldest Male Stripper."

Software downloads, tattoos, male strippers and giant millipedes. Congratulations Firefox 3, uncork the champagne and get to know your fellow record holders.