05/07/2025
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How long have you gone without sleep?
Randy Gardner stayed awake for 11 days ehich is 264 hours in 1964.
In 1964, a 17-year-old high school student named Randy Gardner embarked on an extraordinary science fair project: he wanted to see how long he could stay awake. With the assistance of classmates and the careful monitoring of sleep researchers, Randy pushed the limits of human wakefulness, ultimately aiming to break the standing world record for staying awake.
This was no simple endurance test—it was an exploration into the unknown effects of prolonged sleep deprivation on the human body and mind. Day after day, Randy defied his body's natural need for rest. By the time he surpassed the existing record, he had remained awake for a staggering 264 hours and 25 minutes—that's over 11 days without sleep.
As Randy’s experiment continued, the effects of sleep deprivation began to show. His mood swings were intense, his memory lapses became noticeable, and he struggled to concentrate. But the most shocking symptom was the onset of hallucinations, highlighting how critical sleep is for cognitive function. Randy's journey became a vivid demonstration of just how vulnerable the human mind and body can become when deprived of the essential restorative effects of sleep.
Randy Gardner eventually recovered from his experiment without apparent long-term health effects. However, his remarkable feat remains a milestone in sleep research, contributing to a greater understanding of the vital role sleep plays in our lives. Guinness World Records no longer recognizes this category due to the health risks associated with sleep deprivation, making Randy’s incredible achievement not just a record, but a historical marker in the study of sleep.
P.S.
Fun Fact:
Randy Gardner’s record-breaking experiment is still one of the most famous cases in sleep research, illustrating the extreme limits of human endurance.
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