Whose Idea Was the Guinness Book of Records?

In 1951 Sir Hugh Beaver got into an argument at a shooting party about which was Europe's fastest game bird and could not find the answer in any reference book. He realised a book settling such debates could be popular in pubs. Beaver hired Norris and Ross McWhirter, twins who ran a fact-finding agency in London, to compile it. The first edition, 198 pages long, was published on 27 August 1955 and became a UK bestseller by Christmas. Now called Guinness World Records, the annual book has sold more than 150 million copies.