In 1955, a new non-fiction book was released, editions of which would appear on bestseller lists for decades to come. The Guinness Book of Records, as it was then called, was stuffed with feats and facts from the human and natural worlds. The highest mountain on Earth was in there. So was the world’s tallest man (the American Robert Wadlow, whose 8ft 11ins remains unsurpassed). John R Cobb was featured for holding the world land speed record (403.135mph, set in 1947), as well as a British Friesi