Tower World Records

Pavol Durdik pulled a black sleep mask over his eyes, tipped his head back toward the ceiling and built a column of 16 fidget spinners on a table at home in Púchov, Slovakia, working entirely by feel. The single continuous video shows every spinner placed one at a time, his hands coming off the finished tower while he is still blindfolded, and the tower standing on its own for several more seconds after he takes the mask off. We checked the count of 16 against the finished column before he took it apart on camera. Stacking spinners is one thing; doing it without a single glance down is the hard part.

Pavol Durdik of Púchov, Slovakia, sets a whole orange on his living room table and builds a column of orange fidget spinners on top of it, placing them one at a time and lining up their arms as he goes, with the spinners sitting flat and still rather than spinning. In the single continuous video he lifts both hands clear of the finished tower and it stands on its own for nearly six seconds before he scoops it up. We counted all 19 spinners on the finished column before it came down. A round orange gives the bottom spinner almost nothing flat to sit on, which makes every layer above it count.

Pavol Durdik of Púchov, Slovakia, holds a whole tomato up to the camera, sets it on his living room table and builds a column of orange fidget spinners on top of it, placing them one at a time with the spinners sitting flat and still rather than spinning. In the single continuous video he lifts both hands clear of the finished tower and it stands on its own for more than five seconds, then he points his way up the column counting the layers before scooping it all up. We counted all 19 spinners from zoomed frames of the finished tower. A smooth, round tomato gives the bottom spinner almost nothing to grip, so every layer above it is a balancing act.

Pavol Durdik of Púchov, Slovakia, sits on his living room sofa with a whole tomato cupped in his left hand and stacks orange fidget spinners on top of it one at a time with his right, the spinners sitting still rather than spinning. In the single continuous video the column climbs past his face, and once the last spinner is settled he raises his free hand clear and the tower stands on its own for more than four seconds before he scoops it up. We counted all 19 spinners from zoomed frames of the finished tower. With nothing under the tomato but a hand, the base never stops moving.

Yanhao Deng of Chenzhou, Hunan, balanced 18 round crackers on top of four crackers standing on their edges. The four base crackers lean against each other in pairs to form two small A-frames, and the rest go on flat, first one at a time and then in short stacks, until both hands come away and the tower stands on its own for about three seconds before the camera moves. RecordSetter checked the count of 18 against the ridged edges of the finished stack. Eighteen crackers, four legs, no glue.

Yanhao Deng of Chenzhou, Hunan, stood a 100-yuan practice note, the full-size kind bank tellers train with, on its edge like a half-open book and balanced two AA batteries end to end on top of the fold. Both hands come away and the two-battery column stands on the note alone for about two seconds, while the camera swings round to show nothing else is holding it up. RecordSetter checked the hands-free stand frame by frame in the unedited video. Two batteries, one fold, no glue.

Yanhao Deng of Chenzhou, Hunan, balanced a stack of 44 round crackers on the base of an upside-down clear cup held by its rim in the teeth. Seated at a classroom desk with head tipped back, Yanhao sets the stack on the cup, straightens it with both hands, then lets go and keeps both hands away for about a second and a half while the tower stays balanced. RecordSetter checked the count of 44 against the ridged edges of the stack, which comes off the cup in one piece and is held up to the camera at the end. Forty-four crackers, one cup, no hands.

Viktor O. stacked a tower of 23 dominoes on a stapler in 20 seconds.

Viktor O. balanced three roll-up measuring tapes on his two fingers.

Rishwyn stacked eight Thermocol boxes in 30 seconds.

Mason C. wore a stack of 15 baseball caps backwards while riding a bicycle.

Erik R. stacked five crabapples in a tower.

Bjorn and Anna stacked 74 frozen fish sticks in a tower.

Vivek K. constructed a replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa using 2,000 popsicle sticks. He used other materials including card boards, Fevicol, and chart papers to complete the construction. The tower measures 2.5 meters in height. It took Vivek six days to complete the entire replica.

Doug McManaman stacked 69 pennies on top of a hammer handle.

Chelsea stacked 44 quarters in a tower in one minute using her right hand.