Genius! Albert Einstein lookalikes set new world record
Hundreds dressed like the famous scientist meet to break a record you didn't know existed and honor his brainy legacy.
- Third place film critic, 2021 LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
What do you get when hundreds of people dressed like Albert Einstein gather in one place?
A lot of crazy white hair, that's what. Also, a Guinness World Record for the "Largest Gathering of Albert Einstein Lookalikes."
On Tuesday in Toronto, a crowd of 404 Einstein impersonators convened at global innovation hub MaRS Discovery District in blazers, neckties and slightly disheveled white wigs with matching stick-on moustaches. Many were young admirers of the Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist who probably have genius ideas of their own under those fake curly locks.
Lucky for them, Tuesday also kicked off "The Next Einstein," an online contest that offers an award of CAD$10,000 ($7,500, £6,032, AU$9,780) for an idea that will "make the world a better place."
The competition, which started in 2013, "awards people who embody the same creative and curious spirit as Albert Einstein." In addition to a cash prize, the grand prize winner also becomes eligible for a Einstein Legacy Student Scholarship to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Tuesday's Einsteins broke the previous Einstein lookalike record (yes, there was one) by five brainiacs. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau even got in on the fun, tweeting Tuesday night that he wished he could have attended the event, but "my staff hid my wig & stache!"
Will Trudeau show up next time to help break the current record? As the man of honor himself once said, "The important thing is not to stop questioning."