The town of Orangeville, Ill., lost one of its most beloved residents this year when Blosom, a cow measuring 74.8 inches tall, died on the farm she called home. However, the late bovine's owner soon learned Blosom's memory would live on in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest cow ever.

"The funny thing about Blosom was how unaffected she was by all the attention that seemed to surround her," owner Patty Meads-Hanson told Guinness. As long as she had her oats, and daily chin rubs and ear scratches, life was good.

Meads-Hanson said Blosom was unable to have calves of her own, but she had plenty of love in her life as the "official greeter" on her farm.

5. Lighting the night

New York state resident Tim Gay and his family retook the Guinness World Record for most lights on a residential property in December of last year with a holiday display featuring more than 600,000 bulbs.

Tim Gay, whose previous Guinness record was beaten in 2013 by Australian David Richards with a display featuring 502,165 lights, said he had no plans to attempt the 2014 record until the makers of Ritz Crackers donated an installation featuring about 200,000 lights, bringing the total at his LaGrangeville home to 601,736 lights.

"My family and I are thrilled to bring the Guinness World Record back to the United States and we're even more excited that we did it with nearly 100,000 more lights than the previous record," Gay said.

6. Spud-sational cooking

The Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh captured a Guinness record of its own late last year when its chefs cooked up the world's largest pierogi, which weighed in at 123 pounds.

Richard Marmion, executive chef of the Rivers Casino, said the massive Polish dumpling started with 60 pounds of mashed potatoes and 42 pounds of dough before other ingredients were added and combined into a 123-pound pierogi.

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