From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Randy Gardner (born c. 1947) is the holder of the scientifically documented record for the longest period a human has intentionally gone without sleep not using stimulants of any kind. In 1964, Gardner, a 16-year-old high school student in San Diego, California, stayed awake for 264.4 hours (11 days 24 minutes). This period of sleeplessness broke the previous record of 260 hours and 17 minutes held by disk jockey Tom Rounds of Honolulu.