Chicago's Records in the Guinness Book of World Records

By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 28, 2011 11:30PM

We know Chicago is a one-of-a-kind place with its strange weather, crazy politicians and the best and worst athletics teams around. Someone was fishing around on the Guinness Book of World Records and found a spot with all of the Chicago-related world records and posted it on Windy Citizen.

Most of them belong to athletes. Derrick Rose is the youngest NBA player to win MVP. Devin Hester holds the record for most kick returns for a touchdown in an NFL career — 14. Beyond sports, though, did you know we are also home to the most alkaline-resistant lifeform?

The most alkaline-resistant lifeform is a bacterium discovered in 2003 near Chicago, Illinois, USA. It lives in groundwater contaminated by more than a century of industrial iron slag tipping where it can survive pH levels of up to 12.8.

Ok, that's disgusting. But how about this record: "Most Unused Concert Tickets Bought By An Individual: 79,652." That was Michael Dehn, who bought those tickets to a later-cancelled Led Zeppelin concert at the Chicago Stadium in November 1980. He's been selling them off as memorabilia ever since. Here is a 1994 article from the Daily Herald explaining that.