World Records | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/world-records/RSS feed for World RecordsenFri, 01 May 2026 15:00:20 +0000How Do You Lift a 30,000-Pound Mast From a Warship Built a Record-Breaking 261 Years Ago? With a Really, Really Big Cranehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-do-you-lift-a-30000-pound-mast-from-a-warship-built-a-record-breaking-261-years-ago-with-a-really-really-big-crane-180988658/HMS "Victory" served in the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. It's the world’s oldest warship still in commission—but it's in desperate need of repairsFri, 01 May 2026 15:00:20 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-do-you-lift-a-30000-pound-mast-from-a-warship-built-a-record-breaking-261-years-ago-with-a-really-really-big-crane-180988658/This Fossil Held the World Record for the Earliest Known Octopus. Turns Out, It's Not an Octopus After Allhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-fossil-held-the-world-record-for-the-earliest-known-octopus-turns-out-its-not-an-octopus-after-all-180988511/New research suggests the 300-million-year-old specimen is actually a relative of the nautilusWed, 08 Apr 2026 21:07:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-fossil-held-the-world-record-for-the-earliest-known-octopus-turns-out-its-not-an-octopus-after-all-180988511/The World's Longest Outdoor Escalator Just Opened in China. Riding the 3,000-Foot-Long System to the Top Takes More Than 20 Minuteshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-longest-outdoor-escalator-just-opened-in-china-riding-the-3000-foot-long-system-to-the-top-takes-more-than-20-minutes-180988468/The new "Goddess" escalator in Wushan County features 21 individual escalators and 8 elevators. The modular design carries riders up 800 feet in elevationFri, 03 Apr 2026 18:28:33 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-longest-outdoor-escalator-just-opened-in-china-riding-the-3000-foot-long-system-to-the-top-takes-more-than-20-minutes-180988468/