He Just Shattered Universal Studios Japan's Guinness World Record With This 'Amazing' Christmas Display

An Australian man has dethroned Universal Studios Japan to set a Guinness World Record for the most Christmas lights on an artificial tree.

Universal Studios had just set a new record in October with a 118-foot tree that had 374,280 lights on it, but David Richards, a businessman and attorney from Canberra, came along and changed all that this week, the Associated Press reported.

New record! 518,838 lights on this Christmas tree in Canberra, Australia https://t.co/ajSHxpvq8S #sidsandkidslights pic.twitter.com/MU3FFtGa7u

— GuinnessWorldRecords (@GWR) November 27, 2015

Richards, who puts on Christmas shows to raise money for a charity that combats Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, rallied volunteers to help create a steel, 72-foot tree, complete with 518,838 lights.

"Some people say I've got quite a knack for getting people to do things for nothing," he told the AP. "I get people to do things for nothing because they know that I do things for nothing and I'm contributing my own money, resources, time and effort as well — so maybe they feel sorry for me."

This isn't Richards' first Guinness World Record, as he first won in 2013 after putting 502,165 lights on his home. He followed that up last year by placing 1,194,380 LED lights in a mall as part of a Christmas display — the largest of its kind.

It appears that the Guinness World Records has come to look forward to Richards' Christmas antics.

Guinness World Record attempt @CBR tonight Will will beat Japan's 374,000 lights @GWR @SIDSandKidsACT pic.twitter.com/rLkQvVsRIZ

— David Richards (@DavidRi64501475) November 27, 2015

"Everyone here at Guinness World Records looks forward to this time of year like most and David Richards continues to amaze us with his incredible Christmas displays," Guinness World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday said in a statement. "This is an amazing new record and it’s no mean feat decorating a tree with over 500,000 lights - do bear a thought too for our adjudicator who had to count each and every light!"

It's clearly a world in which records can quickly be broken, as the Associated Press noted. And at the rate at which he toppled Universal Studios Japans' Christmas tree record, it's likely someone else will step up to the plate at some point soon.

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