Wednesday, March 20, 2013

  Largest human hand on ice: Sweden breaks Guinness world record (VIDEO)

LULEA, Sweden -- Some 2,493 inhabitants of Luleå in the far north of Sweden gathered on the ice in a bid to break a Guinness World Record and celebrate that the municipality had surpassed 75,000 residents; they set the new world record for the Largest human hand on ice, according to the World Record Academy: www.worldrecordacademy.com/ .

Photo: Some 2,493 inhabitants of Luleå in the far north of Sweden gathered on the ice in a bid to break a Guinness World Record and celebrate that the municipality had surpassed 75,000 residents. Photo: Per Pettersson/Municipality of Lulea/WRA ( enlarge photo )

 The Guinness world record for the Largest human image of a hand (on the ground) is 849 participants and achieved at an event organized by Nestlé Puerto Rico, at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

   Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the largest car logo; it was formed by 1,143 Chevrolet cars during an event organised by GM Korea (South Korea) in Bokwang Phoenix Park, South Korea.

  "Today, we gave a thumbs up for Luleå. I'm proud of how we together, through hard teamwork, year after year manage to grow and evolve," said Karl Petersen, Mayor of Luleå in reference to the shape that the group made on the ice.

  The "thumbs up" inititiative was timed to coincide with the 75th day of the year - March 16th - to recognise the continued growth of the town past 75,000 residents.

  Located in the far north of Sweden, Luleå is above the Arctic Circle and thus in the winter months there is no shortage of frozen lakes and winter temperatures can drop to as low as -40 degrees Celsius.

  The city has become an attractive place for tech companies, notably Facebook which has built a new server hub in the town, "The Local" reported.

  The "thumbs up" symbol has been explained as a gesture to Facebook after the completion of the company's facility, its first outside of the US.