Stan Munro has spent the last six years of his life recreating some of the world’s most important landmarks out of nothing else but toothpicks.

Most people use them to get rid of food scraps from between their teeth, but 38-year-old Stan Munro, a former television host, uses them to create wooden works of art. Stan takes between one day and six months to glue together 1:164 scale models of some of the most impressive structures on Earth.

In order to create his amazing Toothpick City, Stan Munro has so far used six million toothpicks and 172 liters of glue, but his work is far from over. Right now he is working on a toothpick replica of Angkor Wat, the most complex structure he has ever had to build. All his models are on display at the Museum of Science and Technology, in Syracuse, New York.

Photos by SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

via Telegraph.co.uk

Here are some of his most incredible-looking toothpick creations:

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It might also be the biggest, but Cho Woong’s Star-Wars collection is by far the coolest one I’ve ever seen.

Cho Woong is a Korean dude who managed to put together what might actually be the ultimate Star-Wars collection and actually made it a part of his home. Everything in Cho’s apartment, including his entertainment system, coffee table and even the bathroom is somehow connected to the Star-Wars universe.

Some people collect coins, stamps or even cigarette packs, but this is on a whole other level. And unlike the crazy Pokemon collection, his Star-Wars collection actually looks neat and well-organized, managing to complement his apartment.

Photos by Cho Woong

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More than one hundred belly surfers from all over the world gathered in Cornwall, Britain, for the annual World Belly Board Championships.

You might be surprised to know surfing wasn’t always about standing up on the board and riding the waves. British surfers practiced the sport on their bellies, using short wooden planks, over one century ago. On September 6, 2009 belly surfers from as far as Australia and America gathered in Cornwall for the annual charity event for the National Trust and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The World Belly Board Championships began back in 2002 as a way to commemorate the beginnings of British surfing.

Cornwall has been the main surfing area in Britain and it’s recognized as the first place where a British surfer actually stood up on a surf board. The first photographic evidence of this dates back to 1929.

Photos by Matt Cardy/Getty Images Europe

via Zimbio

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Yes, believe it or not, there is such a competition as Sauna World Championship.

Held in Heinola, Finland, the Sauna World Championship brings together around 200 competitors from all around the world. These hot heads can withstand sauna temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius.

Inaugurated in 1999, this crazy competition has both a men’s and women’s challenge. The Finish men have proven unbeatable every year since the 1999, while women from Belarus and Russia managed to steal the trophy on a number of occasions.

The rules of the Sauna World Championship are simple. Contestants, dressed in just their bathing suits, go inside a steaming sauna and have to stay there for as long as they can. As water is thrown over the stove, temperatures reach 110 degrees Celsius. The last contestant to leave the sauna, on his own two feet, is declared the winner.

This year the men’s title went to veteran Timo Kaukonen, and the women’s trophy was snatched by Russian Tatyana Arkhipenko.

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Raising awareness on the issue of global warming is not easy this days, but artists come up with all sorts of original ways to make the news.

Take Brazilian artists Nele Azevedo,  who created 2,000 ice-sculptures and placed them on the steps of the Berlin Opera Hall, to melt. That’s a lot of work to watch melt away in one hot afternoon, but at least her message made the newspapers. And if one more person knows about the melting Arctic ice, than her effort was not in vain.

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I can’t understand why someone would go through the trouble of creating the world’s biggest porcelain jar, but they did, so here it is.

Porcelain master Xu Sijin and a team of painters worked for more than a year to complete this giant black and white porcelain. The painting on the jar depicts the three gorges of the Yangtze River. The giant porcelain jar stands 1.36 meters tall, has a diameter of 6.8 meters and weighs over 1,500 kg.

The world’s biggest porcelain jar has been unveiled in Jingdezhen, east China and is waiting for recognition from the Guinness Book of Records.

Photos by Xinhua/Shi Weiming

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At just six years of age, Miko Andres can proudly call himself the youngest gun in the west…although he lives in the Philippines.

Miko handles his Colt 1911 handgun with impressive ease, loading, aiming at shooting it like this is what he was born to do. The six year-old took-up practical shooting at the beginning of 2009 and now he travels the country, participating in competition against 9-17 year-olds.

Miko’s father says he is aware of the dangers his young sun is facing by handling a gun loaded with live ammo, but says the boy’s safety is his primary concern. He also wants to introduce the world to Miko’s talent by bringing him to America to compete in international shooting events.

via Telegraph.co.uk

Just because they’re short doesn’t mean little people shouldn’t have the chance to compete in sporting events, at an international level. That’s why the World Dwarf Games were created.

Similar to the Paralympics, the World Dwarf Games gives athletes suffering from dwarfism the chance to prove themselves. The games are held every four years, in locations all across the world. The 5th edition of the games was held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from July 24 until August 2nd. Competitors from all around the world tried their best to win and qualify for the 2012 Paralympics.

Photos by Reuters

Anyone would be more then satisfied to be the proud holder of just one Guinness Record. But not Ashrita Furman, `the man who holds more Guinness World Records than anyone else on the planet.

54-year-old Ashrita Furman has spent the last 30 years trying (and succeeding) to break records. At the peak of his record-breaking career, Furman has held 100 records simultaneously and he’s not doing very bad right now, with 98 records under his belt. He has held 236 world records throughout his career and the closest anyone ever came to surpassing him was holding 20 records.

It all started when he was a little boy, reading the Guinness Book of Records and dreaming that one day he will break one himself. He accomplished his dream in 1979, when he set the world record with 27,000 star jumps, in New York City. And from there on, he never stopped.

Some of his record-breaking stunts involved pushing a car for 17 miles in 24 hours, translating and reciting a poem i 111 languages in 24 hours as well as:

walking 80.95 miles with a milk bottle on his head

chopping 27 apples in mid-air with a samurai sword within sixty seconds

deep Knee Bends on a Balance Board

racing against a yak, in a sac,  in Mongolia

Most Grapes Caught in Mouth in One Minute (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Longest Time Balancing on Swiss Ball (Stonehenge)

Skipping on a Pogo Stick (Cambodia)

Fastest Mile Balancing a Pool Cue (Egypt)

Fastest Hula Hoop Mile (Uluru, Australia)

Balancing Tallest Pole (Aspendos, Turkey)

Fastest Mile on a Space Hopper (Great Wall of China)

Now Ashrita Furman is training to break the record for the fastest mile with flippers on his feet.

Photos by Barcroft Media

via Telegraph.co.uk

I’ve never considered money as something beautiful to look at, but I have to admit, some banknotes look better than others. Here are the top 10 most beautiful banknotes in the world, according to David Standish, author of The Art of Money:

Top 10 currencies via CNBC

10. Faroe Islands (Kronurs)

9. Iceland (Kronurs)

8. Hong Kong (Hong Kong Dollars)

7. Cook Islands (Cook Island Dollars)

6. New Zealand (New Zealand Dollars)

5. Comoros (Comorian Franc)

4. Switzerland (Francs)

3. Sao Tome & Principe (Dobras)

2. The Maldives (Rufiyaa)

1. The French Pacific Territories (Franc)

They’re all interesting, I guess, but here are a few other nice looking banknotes from around the world, maybe even nicer than the ones in Mr. Standish’s top:

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Li Enhai, a talented cook from China, insured himself a spot in the Guinness Book of Records after  making a 2,852 meters long noodle, with just one kilogram of flour. In the photos, you can witness his noodle stretching technique, at a hotel opening, in Keshikten, northern China, on July 29.

Photos by Xinhua/Sun Guoshu

via People.com.cn

Surprisingly enough, the world’s largest organ isn’t located in a cathedral or a church, but in the center of Macy’s Center City Store, in Philadelphia.

The Wanamaker Grand Court Pipe Organ is the largest playable pipe organ in the world. Its console alone weighs 2.5 tons and the entire installation weighs 287 tons. It was bought by John Wanamaker in 1909 and installed in his store, but, unsatisfied with its size, the owner built an organ factory in the store’s attic, in order to enlarge the Grand Court Pipe Organ.

The Wanamaker Pipe Organ was played in 1911 for the first time and has been entertaining Philadelphia shoppers 2 times a day, Monday to Saturday and even more often during winter holidays.

This giant organ has 28, 482 pipes. 6 manual keyboards, 42 foot pedals and is able to deliver incredible sound power. The organist, Peter Richard Conte has 729 color-coded buttons to choose from, just when he wants a different rank of pipes to be played.

Photos by REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine (UNITED STATES SOCIETY BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT)

via Drugoi

Ok, so I’m not sure if it’s really the sweetest, since they have serious competition from the guys who cooked the world’s largest cheesecake, but it’s definitely up there with the sweetest.

Over 100,000 Palestinians gathered in the center of Nablus city, on the West Bank, to watch as the largest Kunafa cake was being made and hopefully, even grab a bite. 170 bakers, from 10 bakeries around Nablus, worked together to create the longest and heaviest Kunafa in history.

Kunafa is definitely one of the most delicious desserts in the Arab world, baked from semolina flour, hiding a delicious mozzarella-like cheese,  sweetened with a sugar syrup sprinkled with rose water and covered by a crunchy carpet of crushed nuts.

The giant Kunafa measured 74 meters in length and weighed 1765 kg, 400 kg more than it needed to break the old record. It cost around $15,000 to make and the ingredients include around 700 kilograms of semolina flour, the same amount of white cheese, 300 kilograms of sugar and six tons of cooking fat.

The record has been recorded and will be presented to the Guinness Book of Records for acknowledgment.

That’s right, you read correctly, the world’s strongest vagina muscles belong to Tatiata Kozhevnikova, a 42-year-old woman from Novosibirsk, Russia.

She has been acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records, as the woman with the strongest intimate muscles, after lifting a 14-kilograms-heavy ball, using only her vagina.

Tatiata said she noticed she had extremely weak vaginal muscles after giving birth, so she decided to do something about it. She read books on Dao and found out women have been confronting this problem for thousand of years.

But that didn’t scare her at all and she started practicing with custom-made balls. Tatiata advises all women to harden their vaginal muscles, to improve their sex lives.

Photos via KP.ru

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Wataru Itou, a talented art student from Tokyo, spent 4 years of his life building this trully incredible paper castle.

Named Umi no Ue no Oshiro (A Castle on the Ocean), this paper craft castle features electric lights and even a moving train, made of paper. It is set on exhibit at Uminohotaru, a service area between Tokyo and Chiba Prefecture and you can check it out with Google Earth.

Whether you’re a fan of paper craft or not, you must admit this paper castle is wonderful work of art. The Japanese like to take their time (see the LEGO Yamato Warship), but at least they deliver.

via Tokyobling