Interesting & funny news from around the world, Интересные и забавные новости со всего мира

309 people don banana hats to break world record at Missouri museum

A Missouri museum gathered 309 people in banana hats to break an "a-peel-ing" Guinness World Record.

The City Museum in St. Louis took on the title for the most people wearing banana hats at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

An official Guinness World Records adjudicator was on site and confirmed the museum took the record with 309 participants.

"We gathered a bunch of friends to set the a-peel-ing Guinness World Records title for most people wearing banana hats with 309 participants! We couldn't have split this record without the help of Explore St. Louis, Slalom St. Louis, Rasta Imposta Costumes and, of course, YOU," the museum said on social media.

Philadelphia Zoo announces hatching of its first Galapagos tortoise babies

The Philadelphia Zoo announced the hatching of four critically endangered Western Santa Cruz Galapagos tortoises, the first of their species to hatch at the facility in its history.

The zoo said the first egg hatched Feb. 27 and the others emerged from their eggs in the ensuing weeks. Zookeepers said they are still monitoring multiple eggs that could still hatch in the coming weeks.

The eggs were laid by Mommy, a tortoise estimated to be about 100 years old who is considered a key asset for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan. The father of the babies, Abrazzo, is also believed to be about 100 years old.

The hatchlings are scheduled to make their public debut April 23, which is also the 93rd anniversary of the day Mommy first arrived at the zoo.

"This is a significant milestone in the history of Philadelphia Zoo, and we couldn't be more excited to share this news with our city, region and the world," Jo-Elle Mogerman, the zoo's president and CEO, said in a news release. "Mommy arrived at the Zoo in 1932, meaning anyone that has visited the zoo for the last 92 years has likely seen her. Philadelphia Zoo's vision is that those hatchlings will be a part of a thriving population of Galapagos tortoises on our healthy planet 100 years from now."

Abrazzo came to the zoo in 2020, and Mommy has since laid four clutches of eggs, but the first three did not produce any viable hatchlings.

Hawk captured after terrorizing English village for weeks

A Harris' hawk's reign of terror was brought to an end after being captured by a resident of the English village where it was blamed for an estimated 50 dive-bombing attacks on locals.

The non-native bird of prey has been blamed for dozens of attacks on the heads of unsuspecting residents, drawing blood in some cases. The Royal Mail said service in the area had been interrupted due to the risk to carriers.

The Harris' hawk, native to North and South America, was finally captured by appropriately-named resident Steve Harris, 40.

"It's a relief for us and the whole village," Harris, who caught the hawk in a cage in his back yard, told the BBC.

"It had been chasing me around the village when I went for a run, and when I got back it flew down to the top of my shed," he said. "The falconer had left me a cage. I was using it to protect myself and I got brave enough when the bird was about a foot away, and I threw it over the top of it, trapping it. I screamed out for the falconer to come and help, and he came and tamed it."

Harris said his children had been barred from playing outside their home for several days due to the presence of the aggressive raptor.

"We're about to pick the kids up from school. They're going to be delighted they can go into the garden," Harris told The Guardian.

Alan Greenhalgh, the falconer who helped Harris with the capture, said the bird is a young male and may have been acting aggressive due to being "hormonal."

Greenhalgh said the bird is "as fat as a barrel" after being fed by villagers in their attempts to capture it.

Another falconer, who gave his name as Wayne, is now taking care of the hawk. He said dried-out leather tags on the avian's feet indicate it has likely been on the loose for over a year.

Cruise ship crew breaks world record with 1,391 Lego boats

A company celebrated the launch of its newest cruise ship by assembling 1,391 Lego ships and lining them up on the deck.

MSC Cruises took on the record for the longest line of Lego ships on the deck of its new flagship, the MSC World America, during the voyage from its shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, to its new home port in Miami, Fla.

The 1,391 ships were assembled and arranged by a team of about 1,500 crew members, ending with a line of Lego boats stretching 292 feet.

A Guinness World Records adjudicator was on deck to witness the attempt and certify the record.

A naming ceremony for the MSC World America is scheduled for Wednesday, and the ship will begin its inaugural Caribbean season Saturday.

Kentucky restaurant intentionally filled with clean water to keep flood at bay

The owners of a Kentucky restaurant in the path of the Ohio river floods shared their unusual strategy for keeping the dirty water out: intentionally flooding the building with clean water.

Andrew Masterson, co-owner of Captain's Quarters Riverside Grille in Prospect, posted a live video to Facebook showing how he and his team are keeping the silty floodwater out of the building.

Masterson and the restaurant's employees used sinks, faucets and a well water pump to fill the restaurant with about 6 feet of clean freshwater to keep the filthy flood at bay.

"We disconnected kitchen equipment and electrical panels beforehand," Masterson explained in the video.

Masterson said that if the strategy continues to be successful, it could save the restaurant from expensive and time-consuming clean-up work.

He said he remains concerned that the floodwaters could enter the restaurant through windows, doors or ductwork if the water levels outside reach higher than 6 feet.

NASA offers $3M in competition to recycle human poop in space

NASA is offering $3 million to anyone who proposes technology to solve an unusual problem: recycling feces and other human waste in space.

The space agency's LunaRecycle Challenge calls on members of the public to propose a technological means of recycling astronauts' feces, urine and vomit on the moon and during long-haul space flights.

There are currently 96 bags of human waste that were left behind on the moon by astronauts from the Apollo missions, and the aim of the LunaRecycle Challenge is to prevent adding to the stinky space stash.

The chosen technology will be put to use on future space missions, including hypothetical long-term outposts on the moon.

"NASA is committed to sustainable space exploration. As we prepare for future human space missions, there will be a need to consider how various waste streams, including solid waste, can be minimized — as well as how waste can be stored, processed, and recycled in a space environment so that little or no waste will need to be returned to earth," NASA said on its website.

NASA is currently reviewing the first round of proposals to decide which ones will move on to the next phase of the competition. The team who comes out on top at the end of the competition will be awarded $3 million.

British teenager hand-draws 1,300-page flip-book

A British teenager broke a Guinness World Record by hand-drawing a flip-book that went on for 1,300 pages.

Max Budgen, 17, of Petersfield, Hampshire, told Guinness World Records he drew his flip-book, titled Thunder Strikes, over the course of several days.

"The record attempt itself took place over a number of days. I'd sit down on my desk, at school, on trains and I'd draw," he said.

The finished flip-book earned him the title for the most pages in a hand-drawn flip-book.

"Some of the toughest moments that I encountered whilst attempting this record, I think is the fact that flip books usually are meant to be short, snappy and interesting narratives," he said.

"By the time I was on page 500 or so, I was getting rather bored and running out of ideas. But, nevertheless, I reminded myself that world records aren't meant to be easy. So I persevered and carried on."

Weirdest finds inside unclaimed luggage include 'Goonies' script, glass eye

Unclaimed Baggage revealed its annual "Found Report," detailing the most unique and expensive items found inside lost luggage that went unclaimed.

The retailer, which takes possession of unclaimed bags after a 90-day search for owners and redistributes the items for sale, charity or recycling, said some of the most bizarre items handlers have come across in the past year include a freeze-dried chicken foot and a script from the 1985 film The Goonies.

Other unusual items included a toilet seat, a glass eye, an uncut sheet of $2 bills, an Ice Spice Chia Pet, a replica suit of medieval armor, a 1944 letter signed by Eleanor Roosevelt, a jar of whiskey containing a preserved rattlesnake, a cuckoo clock, a silicone pregnancy belly, a cheery-shaped toilet brush, an antique magician's top hat and an antique mustache curler.

Some of the most expensive finds include a $39,000 diamond ring, a $20,000 Rolex watch, a $5,000 pair of embroidered Levi's jeans and a $9,100 Louis Vuitton handbag.

Alaska woman's nearly 3-inch mouth gape breaks world record

An Alaska woman had her massive mouth measured by a dentist and broke a Guinness World Record with her 2.98-inch gape.

Ketchikan resident Marie Pearl Zellmer Robinson said she always knew she had a large mouth, but hadn't considered it might be a world record until she saw a video of the previous record-holder, Samantha Ramsdell, whose mouth gape was measured at 2.56 inches in 2021.

"I just watched the videos a few times. I'm like, 'Huh, that's funny. I could fit that kind of stuff in my mouth too! Hey, I wonder if I can beat her,'" Robinson told Guinness World Records.

Robinson's dentist measured her mouth gape at 2.98 inches, earning her the title for the largest mouth gape (female).

"I've always kind of known I had a big mouth," she told the Ketchikan Daily News. "I talk a lot, and apparently I do have a physically big mouth, but we never really did anything about it. It was always just kind of a joke that I could fit two, you know, three and a half Jenga blocks in my mouth, type of concept, when you're kids."

Robinson said she doesn't show her mouth off as much now that she's an adult.

"When I do, it kind of creeps people out," she said. "That's a creepy jaw!"

She said earning the title was a sort of redemption for her, after she missed out on joining an attempt for the world's largest Wellington boot race in 2013 because she couldn't get the day off work.

"Now I get to join the rest of them and have a Guinness World Records title with a lot of other people in town," she said.

Deer wanders into YMCA in Kentucky

Police in Kentucky responded to the local YMCA to eject an unusual "trespasser" — a deer.

The Louisville Metro Police Department said on social media that officers responded to the Chestnut Street YMCA on a report of "a trespasser refusing to leave."

"When officers arrived on scene, we were met with a subject literally staring at us with a 'deer in the headlights' look," the post said. "To our surprise, the YMCA doesn't offer memberships to deer. Who knew?"

The post included a video of the deer being escorted back outdoors.

Police said they have seen an increase in reports of deer wandering into urban areas, likely due to recent floods.

2,461 take cold weather swim to break world record in Czech Republic

A total 2,461 bathers braved the frigid waters of the Czech Republic's second-largest lake to break a world record for the largest polar bear dip.

Czech freediver David Vencl organized the March 1 attempt at Most Lake, where the water was measured at below 50 degrees.

Guinness World Records confirmed the bathers took the record from 1,799 cold weather swimmers who took the plunge at the XIIth Ice Swimmers Convention in Poland in 2015.

Vencl previously held the record for the longest swim under ice — breath held (no fins, no diving suit), which he set in 2021 and only lost in March of this year.

Pickleball enthusiasts play 36-hour marathon to break world record

A team of four pickleball enthusiasts broke a Guinness World Record in Texas by playing 36 consecutive hours of matches.

The team, who call themselves The Pickle Breakers, took on the record for the longest marathon playing pickleball at Pickler Universe in Carrollton, and ended their attempt at 36 hours.

The current record is held by a foursome who played for 34 hours, 5 minutes and 55 seconds in Britain in September 2024. Evidence from the latest attempt must still be reviewed and approved by the record-keeping organization.

The Pickle Breakers — Chong Kim, Jaret Petras, Laura Maala and Geneva Olson — started playing at 6 a.m. local time on Saturday.

"They're tired. It's been a long night," Olson's husband, Mark, told KWTX-TV.

The attempt raised over $18,000 for the Taylor's Gift Foundation, a charity supporting organ donation and providing aid to families who decide to donate the organs of their loved ones.

Mark Olson said the cause is very close to his wife's heart, and she also wanted to inspire the couple's daughters.

"We've got four daughters, and she wants to prove to her daughters that she can do anything, and they can do anything they put their mind to," he said. "She's been the kind of person that if there's something she wants to do, she puts her mind to it and gets it done."

Tiny pygmy falcon chick hatches at Texas zoo

The San Antonio Zoo in Texas shared a photo of its latest arrival — a newly-hatched pygmy falcon weighing barely more than a quarter.

The zoo announced the "pint-sized powerhouse" hatched March 18 and weighs just .23 ounces — just over the .2-ounce weight of a U.S. quarter.

"The tiniest predator with the biggest personality just hatched at San Antonio Zoo," the zoo said on social media.

The chick is the 12th pygmy falcon to hatch in the zoo's history, and the first since 2004. It is also the only pygmy falcon to hatch at a U.S. zoo in the past 12 months.

"Proud parents Squiggy and Laverne, both hatched at San Diego Zoo (Squiggy in 2023, Laverne in 2021), have now started their own little dynasty at San Antonio Zoo," the zoo said.

The chick is being hand-raised by zookeepers at the NEST, the zoo's facility for baby birds.

"With gray plumage and a chestnut patch on the female's back, pygmy falcons are as striking as they are resourceful. They often nest in the homes of social weavers and protect them — though they sometimes prey on the weavers, too," the post said.

Mass. teen's message in a bottle from 1976 found in the Bahamas

A pair of brothers walking along the coast of a remote island in the Bahamas found a message in a bottle that had been written by a 14-year-old Massachusetts student in 1976.

Clint Buffington, an experienced beachcomber who has found more than 100 messages in bottles across North America and the Caribbean, said he and his brother, Evan, were exploring the coast of an island in the Bahamas a few weeks ago when they made a discovery.

"I hear my walkie-talkie crackle to life, and my brother says something like, 'You're not going to believe what I just found,'" Clint Buffington told WCVB-TV.

The old Pepsi bottle contained a note written by Peter R. Thompson, a 14-year-old Pentucket Regional Junior High School student from West Newbury, Mass., who was taking an oceanography class at the time. The note said the bottle would be tossed into the ocean by the Coast Guard.

The Buffington brothers were able to get in touch with Thompson, who said he does not remember writing the message, but he has fond memories of the oceanography class.

"It's amazing. It's almost 50 years later, so it's a surprise," Thompson said.

Buffington said he and his brother are hoping to eventually return the note to Thompson in person.

Herd of 25 escaped cows visits Pennsylvania neighborhoods

A herd of about 25 cows went parading through several neighborhoods in Pennsylvania's Bucks County after escaping from a farm.

Annette Worthington, one of the owners of Curly Hill Farm in Doylestown, said a call from a neighbor led to the discovery that about 25 young heifers had escaped from their pasture.

"They got spooked last night from the storm," Worthington told CBS Philadelphia. "They ran past two electric fences, and they hit it with such force, they ripped a fence post out of the ground."

The cows were caught on camera wandering through multiple neighborhoods in the surrounding communities of Bucks County.

Worthington said the herd split into two groups, with one heading into a wooded area and the other taking a tour of residential areas.

About 10 of the bovines were captured outside B & B Beverages in Doylestown, where owner Zach Jarin caught sight of the action.

"There were a bunch of farmers here trying to wrangle them out. Definitely never something I expected to happen selling beer," Jarin told WFMZ-TV.

All of the cows were eventually recaptured with help from police and local residents. Worthington said a single cow, named Gracie, evaded pursuers for a few hours longer than the others, but was safely returned to the farm.

'Fabulous feathered friend': Loose peacock found wandering in Philadelphia

Animal rescuers in Philadelphia responded to an unusual situation when a resident found a wandering peacock on their front step.

ACCT Philly said on social media that rescuers were called out Thursday on a report of a loose peacock in the city.

"This fabulous feathered friend was spotted strutting through the city like he had brunch reservations and no time to waste," the post said. "You know it's going to be that kind of day when your morning meeting gets interrupted by a wandering peacock on your front step."

The group said the peacock was safely captured and brought back to the rescue.

ACCT Philly did not say whether the bird's owners had been identified.

Maryland man wins $50,000 lottery prize on his first try

A Maryland man bought his first-ever lottery ticket at his mother's urging and scored a $50,000 prize thanks to his beginner's luck.

The St. Mary's County man told Maryland Lottery officials he had never bought a lottery ticket before visiting the Shoppers grocery store in Waldorf with his mother.

"My mom plays the lottery, so when we walked past the vending machine she suggested that I finally try one," the player recalled.

The player's mother helped him pick out a Big Money scratch-off ticket, which turned out to be a $50,000 winner.

"I can only describe it as an intense rush," the man said of learning he was a big winner.

The player said his first lottery ticket might also be his last.

"What are the chances that I'll ever do this well again?" he said.

The man said he might consider changing his mind down the line.

"Maybe I'll try a Mega Millions or Powerball ticket. Maybe the luck will still be with me," he said.

Belgians hunt for hidden beers in Easter event

A brewery in Belgium swapped painted eggs for frothy brews when it celebrated Easter with the "World's Biggest Beer Hunt."

The fifth annual Easter event at the Aywiers Gardens in Lasne, Belgium, saw over 1,000 registered hunters searching the grounds for 12,000 hidden bottles of Lutgarde beer.

Hidden among the beers was a special golden bottle, which earned its finder a prize of his weight in beer.

The event began Sunday with a chocolate egg hunt for children at noon, and the beer hunt then commenced at 12:30 p.m. A barbecue at 1:30 p.m. allowed the hunters to relax and enjoy some of their collected beer bounty.

A second round of the hunt is taking place Monday.

Party animals: Chimpanzees caught on camera sharing alcoholic fruit

A team of British researchers studying chimpanzees in West Africa said they have documented the primates eating and sharing alcoholic fruit.

The University of Exeter team said cameras set up at Cantanhez National Park in Guinea-Bissau captured the chimps sharing fermented African breadfruit that was later confirmed to contain ethanol.

The team's study suggests the chimpanzees could be using the alcohol for a similar purpose as humans who partake in intoxicating beverages.

"For humans, we know that drinking alcohol leads to a release of dopamine and endorphins, and resulting feelings of happiness and relaxation," Anna Bowland, from the university's Center for Ecology and Conservation, said in a news release.

"We also know that sharing alcohol — including through traditions such as feasting — helps to form and strengthen social bonds," she said. "So — now we know that wild chimpanzees are eating and sharing ethanolic fruits — the question is: could they be getting similar benefits?"

The researchers said it is notable that the chimps were documented sharing the fruits, rather than eating them alone.

"Chimps don't share food all the time, so this behavior with fermented fruit might be important," researcher Kimberley Hockings said. "We need to find out more about whether they deliberately seek out ethanolic fruits and how they metabolism it, but this behavior could be the early evolutionary stages of 'feasting.'"

Australian woman's collection of Minions earns world record

An Australian woman earned a Guinness World Record with her collection of 1,035 Minions — the little yellow mischief-makers from the Despicable Me franchise.

Western Australia resident Liesl Benecke said she fell in love with the Minions while watching the first Despicable Me film and started collecting merchandise about 15 years ago.

"I remember laughing so much at the cute, little pill-shaped henchmen. They certainly made a huge impression on me," she told Guinness World Records. "I'm just a big kid at heart. Since then I have always been on the lookout for Minions everywhere I go."

Guinness World Records confirmed she is now the holder of the record for the largest collection of Minions memorabilia.

"My daughter says I need another house just to store my Minions, but I love being surrounded by their beautiful, bright yellow smiles," she said. "They are in every room and on every spare wall."

Benecke said that while some more casual fans might find the Minions interchangeable, she has a clear favorite.

"My favorite is Stuart, the sassy, one eyed Minion with attitude, and he is the one I have tattooed on my arm. So many people and kids comment on the tattoo and we start talking about our mutual love of Minions," she said.

Benecke said her collection is still growing.

"I will never stop buying Minions to bring home to join my Minion family," she said. "My daughter thinks I have enough but I love them more than ever."

Cypriot busts a move with 468 wine glasses balanced on his head

A dancer in Cyprus may have broken a Guinness World Record by balancing 468 wine glasses on his head — while dancing.

Dinos Kkantis performed a traditional routine known as the Dance of the Glasses at an Easter Tuesday event in Aradippou, Kkantis, which involved an increasing number of trays of glasses being placed on his head while he danced.

Kkantis managed to dance with 468 glasses on his head, potentially taking the Guinness World Record for the most wine glasses balanced on the head. The current record of 319 glasses was set by fellow Cypriot Aristotelis Valaoritis in May 2023.

Video and other evidence from Kkantis' performance must now be reviewed by Guinness World Records before becoming official.

Pawesome pooches shred the waves at Florida dog surfing festival

Canines conquered the waves in Florida for the Brevard Humane Society's 13th annual East Coast Dog Surfing Festival.

The Easter tradition at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach saw 23 radical rovers riding surfboards and shredding the waves on Sunday.

The competition was attended by dozens more canines and about 5,000 human spectators.

Sammie the chiweenie — a cross between a chihuahua and a dachshund — successfully defended his 2024 title by taking the top spot in this year's competition.

"The dogs really do want to surf, just like people," Theresa Clifton of the Brevard Humane Society told WOFL-TV. "It's another way that we can show the public that animals are part of our family."

The festival, sponsored by the Ron Jon Surf Shop, also featured a canine bikini contest and an Easter outfit contest.

British man unknowingly buys back his own stolen car

A British man who paid more than $26,000 to replace his stolen car later discovered he had unknowing bought his own vehicle back.

Ewan Valentine, 36, from Solihull, England, said he discovered Feb. 28 that his black 2016 Honda Civic Type-R had been stolen from its overnight parking space.

Valentine said he was distraught about the loss and hoped to replace the car with a nearly-identical vehicle.

"Sure enough, I found one for sale. Same color, same year, same custom exhaust system," he wrote on social media.

The license plates and VIN were different from his stolen vehicle, so he didn't think too much about the similarities until he had already paid more than $26,000 for the replacement ride.

"I started to notice some odd things when I got it home. I noticed a tent peg and some Christmas tree pines in the boot. I noticed the locking wheel nut was in a Tesco sandwich bag. I noticed some wrappers in the central storage section. All oddly similar to my stolen car," he wrote.

Valentine decided to check the car's on-board GPS and discovered it had previously been to his house, his parents' house and even his partners' parents' house.

"A part of me felt sort of triumphant for a moment until I realized, actually, no, this isn't some heroic moment; you didn't go and get your car back; you've actually done something a bit stupid," Valentine told the BBC.

He took the vehicle to a Honda dealership, where technicians confirmed the VIN was a fake and the car was indeed the one that had been stolen from Valentine.

"The first Honda technician, he pulled the physical key out, puts it straight in the door and unlocks it and he's like, 'Yes, it's your car,'" Valentine said.

Valentine said he does not believe the garage that sold him the car knew it was stolen.

"The police and the Honda garage all said this was one of the best clone jobs they'd ever seen, so if it wasn't for these little artifacts, no one would have ever known," he said.

The car is currently being investigated by police for forensic evidence and will then be turned over to Valentine's insurance company.

"The police are now handing the car over to my insurance company, who will either get it road legal again and in a position that it can be insured on my original policy again or pay out for the car if that costs more than the car," he told Birmingham Live.

Tourist wins lottery prize of over $3M while visiting Chicago

A tourist visiting Chicago made a stop at a local store and won a prize worth $3,188,104 from the Illinois Lottery.

The visitor, nicknamed Traveling Treasure, told Illinois Lottery officials he came to Chicago to see the popular tourist sites.

"I've been to Chicago before, but never had the chance to explore the tourist spots, so on this trip I made sure to see as much as I could," the player said. "I visited the Skydeck at Willis Tower, checked out some filming locations from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and of course, I couldn't leave without seeing The Bean."

The man said he stopped at Komal Wine and Liquor on North Cumberland Avenue during his trip and bought a FastPlay Ultimate Diamond Jackpot ticket.

"Before heading back to my hotel one evening, I stopped at a nearby convenience store," he said. "I noticed the Ultimate Diamond Jackpot game had a pretty high prize amount at the time, so I decided to try my luck and bought a ticket. When I got back to the hotel and checked it, I saw that I'd won the jackpot — over $3 million! It was a moment of shock and awe, and I completely froze."

Traveling Treasure said he already has big plans for his winnings.

"I've been wanting to buy a house for a while, but with how expensive real estate is these days, it just hasn't been possible. Then, I recently found out my landlord is selling the apartment I've been renting, so now I have to move out. I feel incredibly lucky — this win couldn't have come at a better time," he said.

Snake falls from restaurant ceiling, lands in diner's margarita

A Virginia woman was enjoying a margarita at a Henrico County restaurant when a baby snake fell from the ceiling, bounced off her forehead and landed in her drink.

Carletta Andrews said she was at Patron Mexican Restaurant and Cantina in Sandston on April 16 and had finished eating when she felt a small impact.

"I leaned in to take a sip and I noticed something hit me in the forehead and I looked at my husband like, 'What was that?'" Andrews told WRIC-TV. "When I turned around, I saw the snake in my margarita."

"It was moving. It started wrapping around my straw," she said.

Andrews said restaurant workers attempted to get the snake to wrap itself around a stick, but ultimately another customer grabbed it with their hands and took it outside.

"I kept saying please don't let it go in my purse," she said. "I left shaking, I was traumatized."

The restaurant offered to move her to another table, but Andrews said she just wanted to leave.

"It was definitely a shock," she wrote on social media.

The owner of the restaurant said the snake likely entered the building through an air conditioning vent.

Andrews said she is "not going out to eat anytime soon."

Iowa museum owner's spoon collection tallied at 38,162

An Iowa museum owner said she believes she has broken a Guinness World Record for her collection of 38,162 spoons.

Cammie Pohl, owner of the Mississippi Spoon Gallery in Davenport, gathered about two dozen volunteers to spend more than 5 hours cataloging her entire inventory to present to Guinness World Records as evidence.

The current record for the largest collection of spoons is held by Australian man Des Warren, whose collection of 30,000 teaspoons was tallied in 1990.

Pohl said she believes the record will soon be hers, as her collection now stands at 38,162 spoons.

"His is all teaspoons. Mine are teaspoons, salt spoons, mustard spoons, Gilded Age spoons and spoons for centuries," Pohl told WQAD-TV.

Pohl said her spoon collecting habit started when her great-grandmother, who used to have tea parties with her when she was little, gifted her 127 spoons.

She said her museum is aimed at showing the beauty of her collection and educating the public about the art of silversmithing.

"People write them off as not art, but the details on these are just delicate, and it means the world to me to have this record, so that I can say, 'Look at this artwork, and look, I got the record, too,'" Pohl said.