The history of Texas ‘from cavemen to present’ in 24 hours? UNT prof goes for a record

History lectures can feel like they last forever, and one North Texas professor is taking that concept to the next level.

Dr. Andrew Torget, a history professor at the University of North Texas, wants to set a world record for the longest history lesson and raise funds to help make rare Texas historical documents freely available online.

He’s a few hours into a planned 24-hour (or more) lecture on Texas history, which you can watch streaming online at The Portal to Texas History, UNT’s digital home for more than 1 million historical documents from nearly 400 sources across the state.

“It sounds a bit crazy, but the plan is to cover the entire breadth of Texas history, from cavemen up to the present, in a single nonstop lesson,” Torget said in July.

This morning at 9, Torget began the marathon lecture, which is being monitored by volunteer witnesses for submission to the Guinness World Records, in the University union Lyceum.

Torget told CBS 11 that he’s a long-distance runner and thinks that will help him power through the lecture. He’s allowed a five-minute break each hour, he said.

This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 11:49 AM.