- Thread Author
- #1
An Illinois teenager broke a Guinness World Record by building a 17.32-foot-tall replica of the Eiffel Tower from 20,000 toothpicks. Eric Kleibel said his father's career as a civil engineer inspired him to get interested in building from a young age.
He ended up building a 20.2-foot tower from Popsicle Styx in 2021 when he was only 12 years old and set his first Guinness World Record. That record has since been broken, but Kleibel captured the second Guinness World Record in October 2025 when he took on the project using a new medium toothpicks. He managed to use nothing but toothpicks and glue to build a model of the Eiffel Tower that stands 17.32 feet tall, capturing the record for the world's tallest toothpick sculpture.
See? What parents do inspires children's life pursuits.
He ended up building a 20.2-foot tower from Popsicle Styx in 2021 when he was only 12 years old and set his first Guinness World Record. That record has since been broken, but Kleibel captured the second Guinness World Record in October 2025 when he took on the project using a new medium toothpicks. He managed to use nothing but toothpicks and glue to build a model of the Eiffel Tower that stands 17.32 feet tall, capturing the record for the world's tallest toothpick sculpture.
See? What parents do inspires children's life pursuits.
