Just before the end of the year, Dallas will once again try to carve out a spot for itself in the Guinness Book of World Records.
The organizers of the Marvelous Nerd Year's Eve convention, a four-day comic book and pop culture con starting on Thursday, Dec. 29, announced they will stage an attempt to break the world record for having the most people dressed as comic book characters at one gathering.
If they achieve this task, they will join the pantheon of Dallas residents and crowds who also won victory in meaningless challenges that offer no tangible prize other than bragging rights. Some tried and were successful, but ultimately saw their records toppled. These are the
Largest Frito Pie
If you're from Dallas, you know this must have happened at the State Fair, even if you're not aware of this world record. The fair's insane cuisine seems designed to increase the city's insulin sales.
Frito Lay gave Dallas the bragging rights to the largest Frito pie record during the 2012 State Fair. Organizers put together a massive corn chip and chili concoction using a chafing dish that measured 133
Largest Game of Knockout
The Dallas Mavericks have helped their hometown find several places in the Guinness Book of World Records over the years. They've yet to confirm that we've won the record for having the NBA owner who throws the most courtside temper tantrums.
Last year, they helped Dallas score a record off the official NBA court when they organized the largest game of basketball knockout during the team's annual Fan Jam fest. The game consisted of 701 contestants who played 27 rounds, which equaled more than three hours of court time.
Tallest House of Cards
There are few more frustrating ways to fight boredom than trying to build a house of cards. It requires a delicate touch and the cards only seem able to stand on their own if you're building within an airless vacuum chamber. All it takes is one hard breath or wrong move to send the entire structure tumbling toward the table.
Bryan Berg somehow built a massive structure using only decks of playing cards in 2007 at the State Fair of Texas to win the record for the tallest house of cards, a record that still hasn't been broken. Berg's hand-built tower topped out at just over 25 feet, earning him his second playing card structure building record.
Largest Toy Pistol Fight
Texas isn't just known for its insane love of high-powered guns. It's also known for its love of high-powered toy guns, thanks to a world record that took place in March at AT&T Stadium.
A crowd of 2,289 Nerf gun-toting warriors took to the Dallas Cowboys' field with 4,394 foam dart-
Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Turkeys
The Dallas YMCA's annual Turkey Trot has become a Thanksgiving tradition, but one year the organizers decided to make it extra special by breaking a world record while they broke a sweat.
The 2011 Turkey Trot featured a large number of participants dressed as turkeys. Guinness confirmed that 661 of the participants came dressed as the Thanksgiving protein staple and dubbed them the world's largest gathering of people dressed as turkeys.
Most Tennis Balls Held in a Dog's Mouth
Dogs can provide endless hours of top-notch entertainment. Simply watch them try to understand the insane world around them, or teach them
The Millers taught their golden retriever just such a trick in 2003 when their dog Augie learned how to hold five tennis balls in his mouth at one time. Guinness award the
Oldest Adoptive Parent
Not all of Dallas' world record achievements are silly. Muriel Banks Clayton, 92, set a new world record in 2015 when she legally adopted 76-year-old Mary Smith in a Dallas courtroom. According to The Dallas Morning News, Mary moved in with Muriel when she was just 11 because her birth mother had been in and out of the hospital because of mental illness. When Mary turned 14, she moved in permanently because her mother could no longer take care of her. A court made the adoption legal 62 years later.
Largest Attendance at a Basketball Game
It may have taken the Dallas Cowboys awhile to pull together a decent team, but Cowboys Stadium managed to set another attendance record before that happened.
Guinness awarded a crowd of 108,713 people at the 2010 NBA All-Star Game the largest attendance at a basketball game. The previous record was held by the BasketBowl game between Kentucky and Michigan State at Ford Field in 2003.
Most People Making Sandwiches Simultaneously
Everyone knows that everything in Texas is bigger, and that includes our appetites. All it takes is one trip to Whataburger for a half-hour wait in a drive-thru line to learn that regional lesson.
The TangoTab team helped perpetuate this trend when they topped their own simultaneous sandwich making record in February at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. The team members put together 2,586 sandwiches as part of a food drive to fight hunger throughout Dallas.
Largest Parade of Red Wagons
Another charitable organization that tried to do some good for the community also set an interesting world record in the process back in January 2015. The Community Partners of Dallas organized a parade of red wagons to transport toys and gifts to members of the community that benefit from their service. A Guinness counter was on hand and awarded the group an official world record for having the longest red wagon parade with 288 participants pulling wagons full of gifts in the lineup.
