A British man has written his name into the history books by setting a Guinness World Record for visiting the most museums in 24 hours.
Ben Melham, 42, zoomed around 42 London museums in less than 12 hours on a kick scooter including the British Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Barbican Art Gallery on October 25. It wasn’t until this week, though, that his feat was officially verified by the world records team.
He usurped the previous joint-record holders, India’s Sujoy Kumar Mitra and Swaroop Dawrani, by 11 stop-offs. They visited 33 museums in one day last year.
He started his journey at East London’s Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society at 09:03 am before reaching his 42nd and final location – the Royal Academy of Arts in Central London – at 7:58 pm, Guinness World Records said in a statement.
Melham said he was inspired to take on the record after reading a Guinness World Records book with his kids, Matilde and Henrik. He said they “challenged me to turn words into action.”
“London’s museums contain millions of objects. Each of these can give you a moment to connect to a point in time, a particular person or wonder of nature,” he said.
Now that Melham, who works in the museums sector as an operations consultant, has a taste for breaking records, he’s aiming to go one better by visiting the most museums in one year. He started the challenge in October and has already visited 85.
He said: “Museums preserve and share the stories and objects that define us. They are spaces where we come together to reflect on our past, discuss our present, and imagine our future.”
The managing editor of Guinness World Records, Adam Millward, said that Melham’s museum dash “highlighted the rich diversity of London’s museum landscape.
“It’s a reminder to locals and tourists alike that there’s always something new to explore and learn about, albeit at a slightly less frantic pace than this record demanded by Ben,” he added.
