Oldest people
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The longest unambiguously documented lifespan is that of Jeanne Calment of France (1875–1997), who was aged 122 years. She met Vincent van Gogh when aged 14. This led to her being noticed by the media in 1988, at age 113. Subsequent investigation found that her life was documented in the records of her native city of Arles beyond reasonable question. More evidence for the Calment case has been produced than for any other supercentenarian case, which makes her case a gold standard among the oldest people recordholders. This is contrasted with the now-disputed claim of age 120 for the oldest man ever, Shigechiyo Izumi. While this case is currently still recognized by Guinness World Records, the Japanese authorities have hinted that his age was not certain.[citation needed] This claim was accepted in 1978, but subsequent additional research (as early as 1984) has raised doubt as to whether his birth date was confused with that of a brother who died at a young age.
Since the death of Yone Minagawa on 13 August, 2007, the oldest living person is 114-year-old Edna Parker of the U.S., born on 20 April, 1893[1] and Maria de Jesus of Portugal are the only validated people born in 1893 who are still alive.
[edit] Oldest living people
The following is a list of the people who have held the title of oldest recognized person in the world since 1955 (the year Guinness Records began). This list does not reflect the original lists, but is instead retroactive – for example, the Betsy Baker case was not verified until the 2000s.
The longest consecutive time with the title of World's Oldest Person held was by Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan for 3384 days from November 16, 1976 to February 21, 1986. The shortest consecutive time was by Emma Tillman of the United States for 4 days from January 24, 2007 to January 28, 2007. The average length of time served as World's Oldest Person for the 36 people following Betsy Baker (not including the current serving person, Edna Parker) has been approximately 525.5 days. The country with the most people on the list is the United States with 12, followed by the United Kingdom with 9, and Japan with 6.
[edit] Oldest living men (since 1961)
Note: Guinness World Records has only maintained the category of oldest living man intermittently over the years, not establishing it permanently until the year 2000. Persons listed prior to 2000 may be based on an historical reconstruction.
The longest consecutive time with the title of World's Oldest Man held was by Shigechiyo Izumi of Japan for 4367 days from March 9, 1974 to February 21, 1986. The shortest consecutive time was by Henri Pérignon of France for 8 days from June 10, 1990 to June 18, 1990. The country with the most people on the list is the United States with 9, followed by Japan with 4, and the United Kingdom with 3.
[edit] Oldest people ever (115+)
| # | Name | Age | Born | Died | Sex | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeanne Calment | 122 years 164 days | 21 February 1875 | 4 August 1997 | F | Oldest documented and fully validated supercentenarian ever |
| 2 | Shigechiyo Izumi | 120? years 225 days | 11 July 1865? | 21 February 1986 | M | Oldest male supercentenarian (disputed) |
| 3 | Sarah Knauss | 119 years 97 days | 24 September 1880 | 30 December 1999 | F | Oldest in U.S. history, oldest recognized in world 1998–99 |
| 4 | Lucy Hannah | 117 years 248 days | 16 July 1875 | 21 March 1993 | F | Oldest African American |
| 5 | Marie-Louise Meilleur | 117 years 230 days | 29 August 1880 | 16 April 1998 | F | Oldest Canadian, oldest recognized in world 1997 – 98 |
| 6 | María Capovilla | 116 years 347 days | 14 September 1889 | 27 August 2006 | F | Oldest in Ecuador ever, oldest living person 2004 – 2006 |
| 7 | Tane Ikai | 116 years 175 days | 18 January 1879 | 12 July 1995 | F | Oldest Japanese woman |
| 8 | Elizabeth Bolden | 116 years 118 days | 15 August 1890 | 11 December 2006 | F | Oldest living person at time of her death, Tennesseean |
| 9 | Carrie White | 116? years 88 days | 18 November 1874? | 14 February 1991 | F | Formerly oldest in U.S. history, fourth-oldest American ever recorded (disputed) |
| 10 | Kamato Hongo | 116? years 45 days | 16 September 1887? | 31 October 2003 | F | Third-oldest Japanese person (disputed) |
| 11 | Maggie Barnes | 115 years 319 days | 6 March 1882 | 19 January 1998 | F | North Carolina woman |
| 12 | Christian Mortensen | 115 years 252 days | 16 August 1882 | 25 April 1998 | M | Oldest undisputed male, Danish immigrant to U.S. |
| 13 | Charlotte Hughes | 115 years 228 days | 1 August 1877 | 17 March 1993 | F | British longevity recordholder |
| 14 | Margaret Skeete | 115 years 192 days | 27 October 1878 | 7 May 1994 | F | Was oldest living American 1993-1994; Texas state recordholder |
| 15 | Emiliano Mercado del Toro | 115 years 156 days | 21 August 1891 | 24 January 2007 | M | oldest person in Puerto Rico ever |
| 16 | Bettie Wilson | 115 years 153 days | 13 September 1890 | 13 February 2006 | F | U.S. |
| 17 | Anitica Butariu | 115? years 144 days | 30 June 1882? | 21 November 1997 | F | Romania |
| 18 | Julie Bertrand | 115 years 124 days | 16 September 1891 | 18 January 2007 | F | Second-oldest Canadian ever, world's oldest woman for one month until she died |
| 19 | Susie Gibson | 115 years 108 days | 31 October 1890 | 16 February 2006 | F | U.S. |
| 20 | Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper | 115 years 62 days | 29 June 1890 | 30 August 2005 | F | Netherlands, oldest Dutch person ever |
| 21 | Maud Farris-Luse | 115 years 56 days | 21 January 1887 | 18 March 2002 | F | U.S. |
| 22 | Marie Brémont | 115 years 42 days | 25 April 1886 | 6 June 2001 | F | France |
| 23 | Annie Jennings | 115 years 8 days | 12 November 1884 | 20 November 1999 | F | UK |
[edit] Oldest men ever (top 10)
| # | Name | Age | Born | Died | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shigechiyo Izumi | 120? years 237 days | 29 June 1865? | 21 February 1986 | Oldest male supercentenarian (disputed) |
| 2 | Christian Mortensen | 115 years 252 days | 16 August 1882 | 25 April 1998 | Oldest undisputed male, Danish immigrant to U.S. |
| 3 | Emiliano Mercado del Toro | 115 years 156 days | 21 August 1891 | 24 January 2007 | Oldest person in the world December 2006-January 2007 |
| 4 | Mathew Beard[6] | 114? years 222 days | 9 July 1870? | 16 February 1985 | Oldest native-born American man |
| 5 | Yukichi Chuganji | 114 years 189 days | 23 March 1889 | 28 September 2003 | Second-oldest Japanese man |
| 6 | Joan Riudavets | 114 years 81 days | 15 December 1889 | 5 March 2004 | Spanish longevity recordholder |
| 7 | Fred Hale, Sr. | 113 years 354 days | 1 December 1890 | 19 November 2004 | Born in Maine, oldest man in the world March-November 2004, died in Jamesville, New York |
| 8 | Moses Hardy | 113? years 335 days | 6 January 1893? | 7 December 2006 | American, lived in Mississippi |
| 9 | Johnson Parks | 113 years 275 days | 15 October 1884 | 17 July 1998 | American, lived in Florida |
| 10 | John McMorran | 113 years 250 days | 19 June 1889 | 24 February 2003 | American, lived in Florida |
[edit] Oldest validated people currently living (top 10)
Please note that 90% of supercentenarians are women. Though this list is currently all female, there have been males in the top 10 as recently as January 2007. Moreover, that particular male was the oldest person in the world.
[edit] Oldest men currently living (top 10)
[edit] Supercentenarians who died before 1955
[edit] National longevity recordholders
[edit] Nation of death (oldest first)
[edit] Emigrant records (oldest first)
Note: listed for countries where an emigrant lived longer than any lifelong resident
[edit] Gerontology and the verification of age claims
Gerontology involves the tracking of the longest-lived proven individuals as the bio-markers of the human life span. The study of gerontology is usually credited to Michel Eugène Chevreul, a French chemist who died in 1889, aged 102. In the early years of the twenty first century gerontology is benefiting from the improvements in record-keeping in the industrialized world from the latter part of the nineteenth century. As a result, verification standards have evolved and multiple independent documentary confirmations of birth-date are now required to substantiate a claim, rather than evidence deriving only from the claimant. For claims that have not been satisfactorily confirmed by Guinness World Records, considered the authority, see longevity claims.
[edit] Current trends in the lifespans of the oldest humans
The population and lifespans of the world's oldest people are continually increasing due to improvements in health care and lifestyle during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the increasing world population. Additionally, better record-keeping, both 100+ years ago and today, is increasing the percentage of the world's population whose age can be tracked and verified. This increase has been matched by efforts to harness this data. While in 1837 the oldest verified person was aged 108 years, it is now no longer unheard of for individuals, especially females, to have lived 110 years and more. The term supercentenarian has been coined to describe this emerging population group.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.japannewsreview.com/society/kyushu/kyushu/20070814page_id=1438
- ^ Born in Great Paignton, Devon. Research by Andrew Walton and others at the Gerontology Research Group validated her case in September 2007[citation needed] as the world's oldest person from February 17, 1963, the death of her predecessor, Lovisa Svensson, until her own death. The original birth and death documents were located for Miss Dart, who never married. Her death was covered by local newspapers, including page 5 of the October 9, 1963 Herald Express and page 12 of the October 12, 1963 Paignton Observer. She was said to have been in good shape until shortly before her death at age 108 years and 341 days.
- ^ From St Pancras, London, England. Recognized at the time by Guinness World Records as the oldest person to die in the UK at 109 years and 298 days. Her record was broken later that year by Hannah Smith. Born Elizabeth Alice Walker, she was the last person to become the oldest living person at 'just' 108.
- ^ First included in the 1970 Guinness Book of Records, she was the oldest recognised living person in the world between June 16, 1968 and her death, aged 111 (see Louis Epstein: The Oldest Human Beings) She was reportedly alive in October 1968 but the exact date of her death is not known; probably it was lost in turmoil following Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968.
- ^ His grandson claims he lived until 115. See Dzugayev, K.G. (2006). "Южная Осетия в контексте российско-грузинских отношений (South Ossetia in the context of Russian-Georgian relations)" (in Russian). Bulletin of the Vladivkaz Institute of Management (19). “До 115 лет дожил и наш дед Хасако Дзугаев, также рассказывавший немало интересного и, как правило, поддающегося проверке исторической наукой.”
- ^ Matthew Beard is recognized by the Social Security Administration as the oldest man ever born in the USA.
[edit] External links
- Louis Epstein: The Oldest Human Beings — list of validly-documented supercentenarians (by age and chronological), including a chronological list of the oldest living listed persons since 1955 (however, for a time in the 1960s the oldest living person did not officially reach 110).
- Supercentenarian tables at the Gerontology Research Group
- International Database on Longevity
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