Domino Day

Not to be confused with Dominion Day.

Domino Day is a world record attempt for the highest number of falling domino stones, organised each year by Robin Paul Weijers, also known as Mr. Domino.

The following are the subsequent records:

Year	Theme	Standort	Fallen stones	Total stones
1986	KLM Domino World Record	Lisse, Netherlands	755 836	1 250 000
1988	Europe in Domino	Rosmalen, Netherlands	1 328 101	1 500 000
1998	Domino D-Day: Visionland	Leeuwarden, Netherlands	1 605 757	2 300 000
1999	Domino Day: Europa ohne Grenzen	Zuidlaren, Netherlands	2 472 480	2 500 000
1999	Team from China & Japan *	Beijing, China	2 751 518	?
2000	Domino Day: Reaction	Zuidlaren, Netherlands	2 977 678	3 112 000
2000	Team from China & Japan & South Korea *	Beijing, China	3 407 535	?
2001	Domino Day: Bridging the World	Maastricht, Netherlands	3 540 562	3 750 000
2002	Domino Day: Expressions for Millions	Leeuwarden, Netherlands	3 847 295	4 000 000
2004	Domino Day: The Challenge	Leeuwarden, Netherlands	3 992 397	4 250 000
2005	Domino Day: Domino Theatre of Eternal Stories	Leeuwarden, Netherlands	4 002 136	4 321 000
2006	Domino Day: Music in Motion	Leeuwarden, Netherlands	4 079 381	4 400 000
2007	Domino Day: Falling into Life	Leeuwarden, Netherlands	3 671 465 - Failed	4 500 000

Domino Day 2005

Domino Day 2005 was held on 18 November under the theme "Domino Theatre of Eternal Stories"; 4,002,136 out of a total of 4,321,000 stones fell, setting a new world record. The initial world record of 4,155,476 had to be corrected after it was realised that in the final challenge, where one participant had to complete a line of dominoes while the other had to hold the bar the stones were placed on, the bar was held askew (not deliberately), therefore toppling stones that would not have toppled on their own. Since these few stones were necessary for a huge field containing 150,000 dominoes to topple, the whole field had to be excluded.

Sparrow controversy

Main article: Domino Day 2005 sparrow

During preparations, a sparrow entered the studio and caused the premature fall of 23,000 stones before being shot to death; the organisers claim the hunter was called in as a last resort, after all efforts to catch the bird failed. The killing of the bird created great controversy, with seven agencies investigating the shooting (the bird was said to be an endangered species), the person who shot the bird receiving threats and Ruud de Wild, a Dutch radio station DJ, having offered 3000 Euro to anyone who could sabotage at least one million stones before 18 November.

Domino Day 2006

A new world record was set on 17 November on Domino Day. 4,079,381 stones were toppled out of the 4,400,000 that were set up. Four builders' challenges were set in which pairs of builders were chosen to complete vital parts of the set-up while the dominoes were already toppling. The first three builders' challenges failed so the success of the last challenge was crucial to setting the world record.

The design of the course took about a year and a team of 90 builders took around two months to build it.

Domino Day 2007

The theme of this year was: Falling into Life. A total number of 4 500 000 were placed by 85 builders from 12 countries. 81,6% of the total placed dominoes fell, that is a number of 3 671 465.

Domino Day 2007 was held on 16 November and failed because of the final challenge mainly when a bridge had to be made on a revolving hammer/clock appearing structure. The participants of this challenge failed and as a result, the rainbow area failed to fall. However, it was revealed that even if this area had fallen, the 2006 record would not have been broken even though it contained over 400,000 stones. It was the first time in 9 years that Domino Day failed to break the previous record.

External links

• Weijers Domino Productions
• Reuters article plus two minute video of Domino Day 2006 (URL last accessed December 30, 2006)
• Domino Day 2006 at Google Video: Part 1 Part 2