The title of “longest living” woman on the planet goes to an American Gertrude Weaver. She was born into a farming family in Arkansas. She got married at 17, gave birth to four children, but after breaking her hip at 104, she ended up in a nursing home. She left this institution several times, lived with relatives, but ultimately decided to stay in specialized institution, where there is adequate care for the elderly.
Gertrude Weaver. Photo: Reuters
Weaver always noted three factors for her longevity - faith in God, hard work and love for others. And her motto in life: “Do everything in your power, and if something is not in your power, then it is not in your power.”
The next on the list of official centenarians on the planet is also an American - Geralian Talley.
Talley was born 115 years ago in Montrose (Georgia) into a large African-American family. She had 10 brothers and sisters. From early childhood, Geralian worked on a farm, picking cotton, peanuts and sweet potatoes.Talley says that she has never driven a car because one day she mixed up the pedals and the car went in the wrong direction. But Tally still enjoys going... fishing. On her 114th birthday, she gave herself a gift by catching 7 catfish!
Geralian Talley's motto, which allows her to keep her spirits up and great mood every day, “treat others the way you want them to treat you.”
The third place among the planet's centenarians belongs to a native of Alabama - Suzanne Mushatt Jones.
She, like Geralian Talley, was born in large family. At the age of 24, Suzanne moved to New York, where she got a job as a nanny. Suzanne Mushatt Jones spent her entire life looking after other people's children, but she never knew the joys of motherhood. For the last 26 years she has lived in a nursing home, uses a wheelchair, but feels well.
Suzanne attributes the secret to her longevity to the fact that she never drank alcohol or smoked.
Positive attitude
The fourth oldest woman on the planet is Italian Emma Martina Luigia Morano. Today she is 115 years old.
Emma was born into a large family - she had 8 brothers and sisters. In October 1926, she married Giovanni Martinuzzi. But this marriage was not happy. Emma could not cope with the loss of their only child and broke off relations with her husband.
Emma says that she has always worked very hard. She was a cook, worked at a jute factory and at a boarding school. Only at the age of 75 did Emma retire.
When the Italian was asked what the secret of her longevity was, she said that she never took drugs, eats three eggs a day, drinks a glass of homemade brandy and sometimes indulges in chocolate. And, of course, he always looks into the future with optimism!
Another one, fifth on the list, is a long-liver Violet Brown born March 10, 1900 in Jamaica. She was the fourth child in her parents' family, but the only one who crossed the 100-year-old mark. In the early 1960s, Violette married August Gaynor Brown, but did not become a mother of many children. Her only daughter she never found out that her mother was one of the top five world centenarians.
Men live less
It is noteworthy that it is the fair sex who are at the top of the “hit parade” of centenarians. "Men's" places in this long list start only... from the 36th line! So, the oldest living man is considered Japanese. Sakari Momoi.
Sakari Momoi is “only” 112 years old. He was born into a peasant family in the city of Fukushima. Fortunately, large-scale man-made accident I didn’t see Momoi in 2011 - by that time he had moved to another city.Sakari Momoi worked all his life in the education system - he was first the director of technical and then high school in the city of Saitama.
Momoi has three children. It is noteworthy that they are all alive to this day. And the Japanese grandfather also has 11 grandchildren and 32 great-grandchildren.
In 2013, journalists asked Sakari Momoi how long he wanted to live. Momoi replied that he wanted to live for two more years. And, as we see, he kept his promise.
In second place among living male centenarians is also a Japanese man - Koide Yasutaro.
Nothing is known about Koide, except that he lives in the city of Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture. And on January 27, 2015, Koide became the 35th oldest verified man in the world to ever live.
Yasutaro Koide and Sakari Momoi - the only men, which are included in the verified (confirmed) list of the planet's centenarians.
Required to prove
However there is a list oldest people planets whose status has not yet been confirmed by official bodies and relevant documents. Here men occupy dominant positions. And the age they attribute to themselves simply does not fit in their heads.
The oldest of these men is Indian Mahashta Murasi. He claims to have been born in January 1835. This means that today he is 180 years old!
If you believe the Indian “passport girls”, then Mahashta Mursai was born on January 6, 1835 in the city of Bangalore. Then Mahashta moved to Varanasi, where he got a job as a shoemaker and worked in this position until 1957. Thus it turns out that Mursai retired at the age of 122. “I outlived all my children and grandchildren,” says Mahashta Mursai, “it seems that death has forgotten about me...”
Unfortunately, Mursai has not yet passed the special medical examination to confirm your age. Therefore, we can only take his word for it.Another long-living record holder is an Indonesian Mbah Gowo. It is not completely known whether this person has a real name or a fictitious one. There is also no certainty about the place of birth of Mbah Govo. Today he resides on the island of Java, where the local village chief and the islanders look after him. Mbah Gowo says he was born 144 years ago. His words are indirectly confirmed and historical facts, which was witnessed by Mbah Gowo. Thus, he very clearly remembers the construction of a local sugar factory in 1880. He was 10 years old at that time. Also, according to Mbah Govo, throughout his entire long life there were 4 wives and five children, but they all died.
Also, one of the oldest people on the planet who has not yet confirmed their status is a Brazilian Jose Aginelo dos Santos. He says that he was born on July 7, 1888 into a family of African slaves in the city of Pedra Branca in Brazil. Jose has never been married, he does not and never has had children. To this day he walks without a cane, has an excellent appetite and has no serious problems with health. And this despite the fact that Jose has been smoking a pack of cigarettes every day for the last 50 years!
For most of his life, José Aginelo dos Santos worked on a coffee plantation in the city of Bauru. And after he retired, he moved into a local nursing home. Jose loves to tell jokes and sing songs and never misses his daily serving of rice and beans.
“There is no secret to living a long life,” José Aginelo dos Santos said in an interview with reporters, “you just need to accept everything as it is. I lived to this age simply because I lived a lot. That's all".
The secrets of longevity have been of interest to people for a long time. This question periodically makes many people think about how to achieve ideal health, harmony with oneself and become a long-liver. Most often, when asking such questions, people return to the food system or spirituality, to traditions coming from antiquity or the genetic history of the family. The average life expectancy in the CIS countries is 60–65 years; the life expectancy rate in Western European countries is slightly higher. But there are people who have revealed their secrets to longevity. In history, centenarians are people who have reached their 90th birthday. Li Ching-Yun (or Li Jing-Yun) is rightfully considered the oldest man in the world among men.
Elder from China
The birth data of Li Ching-Yun states that he was born in 1677, although the old man himself says that he was born in 1736. In 1930, a professor from Chengdu University discovered Imperial Government Records from 1827, which mentioned his 150th anniversary from the authorities. The Chinese leadership did not ignore the centenarian further, congratulating him, but on his 200th birthday.
An old man was born in Sichuan province. When he was ten years old, Lee began collecting, processing and distributing herbs that were considered medicinal. Even then, he began to study and study everything that helps achieve long life and health. The elder’s diet was not varied: Lee ate herbal decoctions, wine and boiled rice. At the age of 71, Li moved to Cai City in 1749. Offering his job, he became a tactical adviser and art history teacher.
In the obituaries of the New York Times for 1933, it was announced that a long-liver of world significance, Lee Ching-Yun, had died at the age of 256. By that time, the long-liver had become a widower no less than 23 times. His heirs numbered about 180 people. Did he live for 256 years or, as Lee himself claimed, for 197 years? How old the oldest person in the world was was not actually known exactly, but it is much longer than the longevity record of French native Jeanne Calment.
The oldest French woman
Jeanne Calment was born in Arles in 1875. The record holder grew up in a fairly wealthy family of a ship owner. When Zhanna turned 21, she married one of her distant relatives. She had a daughter, but, unfortunately, over time, Zhanna had to bury almost all of her relatives.
During her long life, she almost never refused to eat tasty food and good wine. She loved vegetables and garlic. The only thing the Frenchwoman tried to avoid was conflicts and quarrels. Kalman always boasted about her health, having a bad habit of smoking, and she smoked until she was 117 years old, remaining in excellent health. physical fitness. Having mastered fencing at the age of 85, and practicing cycling until the age of 100, she was active and vigorous until the age of 114. When she reached her 114th birthday, disaster struck - the active centenarian fell and broke her hip. This made her life much more difficult, but still did not prevent her from living to 122 years old. Zhanna Kalman August 4, 1997.
Another long-lived woman
Leading the list of the oldest women alive today, Misao Okawa sadly passed away in April 2015. And while the Guinness Book of Records has not recorded a new record holder among women, it is Misao who is in first place.
She was born in Osaka on March 5, 1898. She got married in 1919, during her marriage she had three children, from whom four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren were born. Misao never refused to eat delicious food, and she never suffered from any special health problems. She considered sleep to be her secret to health and longevity: a good, healthy 15-hour sleep.
Modern centenarian
As for the long-livers who are still living today, they include a resident of Bolivia (the central part of South America) Flores Laura. Flores deservedly occupies this place of honor. Based official document, Bolivian born July 16, 1890.
Flores achieved a long life with the help of nutrition: he spends a lot of time on the move and eats exclusively what he grows with his own hands - these are grains, potatoes and legumes. He eats only lamb as meat, and drinks water exclusively from high-mountain springs. Alcoholic drinks he never tried it and never used it. Perhaps this is why serious illnesses are unfamiliar to him. The 125-year-old man speaks only Spanish and still cannot read or write. Hearing often disappears, but his vision is still good. He has three children, from whom there are sixteen grandchildren and thirty-nine great-grandchildren. Laura still walks without a cane.
As history shows, every centenarian still has his own version of what leads a person to health and long life. Some people think it's a dream, some people say it's proper nutrition, and someone - about . Each of these assumptions gave humanity people whose long lives exceeded any rule of existence.
There are not so many long-livers on our planet who have surpassed the threshold of a hundred years. But among them there are real record holders, whose age has far exceeded the border of 120 years or more. Who is the best today? an old man in the world and where is the limit of the age limit given to people by nature?
The oldest
Death forgot about this old man - the first thing that comes to mind when you find out the age of the Indonesian centenarian. Mbah Gotho celebrated his 145th birthday on December 31, 2016. Although he is rightfully considered the oldest person on earth, there is no documentary evidence of this. The reason is that until the beginning of the twentieth century, recording the date of birth of people official organizations were not produced. The documents confirming the identity of the oldest man in the world contain the date September 31, 1870. Indonesian officials confirm the authenticity of documents with the man’s date of birth.
According to Mbahu Goto, there is no secret to longevity as such. You just need to live surrounded by loved ones and loving people and be more tolerant of everyone. After all, it is this feeling that is the engine of all life. But in recent years, the record holder has already been burdened by his existence. Behind long years he had to bury 4 wives, he mourned the death of his siblings and even children.
Despite his venerable age, the old man had good memory and a clear mind. He was almost 100% blind, could not fully take care of himself, but did not feel handicapped. For his relatives and neighbors, Mbahu was a very interesting interlocutor and a respected person.
For so much long term The 145-year-old centenarian managed to do a lot: raise children, work tirelessly for the benefit of his family, defend his homeland from invaders during Japanese war. Mbahu Gotho's only dream towards the end of his life is to close his eyes as quickly as possible and go to another world in order to meet people dear to his heart there. It came true last year. On April 30, 2017, Mbah Goto passed away.
Among the world's centenarians recent years A Jamaican may compete with Mbah. In May 2016, 117-year-old Violet Mosse-Brown was officially recognized as the oldest verified inhabitant of the Earth.
The record holder was born on March 10, 1900. All her life the woman worked hard in the cane plantations. She led healthy image life, did not drink alcohol at all, gave up chicken and pork. Violet is the only one modern representative of the Negroid race who were able to overcome the 117-year mark. The Jamaican centenarian passed away in September 2017.
Record holders of past years
Not long ago, the first place in the ranking of the oldest centenarians on earth, whose dates of birth and death are documented, was occupied by the Frenchwoman Jeanne Louise Calment. She died in 1997 at the age of 122. For the last few years of her life, the French centenarian was awarded the title of the oldest living person on earth.
The genetic data, medical parameters and lifestyle of the respectable lady were the subject of study by various kinds of specialists. In the last years of her life, the venerable lady almost completely lost her sight and hearing, but at the same time remained in good health, demonstrating to others her intelligence and clear memory.
American centenarian Sarah Knauss took second place. She was born on April 16, 1998, and died 33 hours before the millennium celebration. During her long term, Sarah survived 7 wars involving the United States, as well as changes in the reign of 23 presidents. Sarah had an only daughter, Catherine, who outlived her mother by only 5 years, dying at the age of 101.
The third place of honor as the oldest person on earth was also occupied by a woman - Italian Emma Morano. The record holder was born on November 29, 1899. Her heart stopped beating on Easter last year at the age of 117. Over such a long period of time, Emma outlived 7 of her siblings, two of whom also overcame the century-old age mark.
The secret of the record holder's longevity, according to her, lay in a special diet offered to her by doctors back in 1919. Every day she ate 3 eggs: two raw for breakfast and one omelet for lunch. In the evening she could enjoy a small portion boiled chicken with vegetables. The doctor who has been observing Emma for the past 20 years noted that his patient led a passive lifestyle: most I slept during the day and ate in between sleeps.
Of course, each of us would like to stay in this world as long as possible, but, alas, no person is eternal. It is clear that many factors influence her: her image, nutrition, place of residence, genetic predisposition to diseases, and so on. On average, in the CIS countries, men die around 60 years of age, and women - 65. In Western Europe this figure is slightly higher. However, at all times there have been people on Earth who showed great love for life and lived longer than the average age.
In general, “centenarians” are people who have crossed the threshold of 90 years. According to statistics, women are in this world longer than men, which is why they hold most of the life expectancy records.
The oldest person on Earth
This title belongs to the heroine Jeanne Louise Calment. In the entire history of man and to this day, there has not been a person who has lived longer than her. She was born in France on February 21 back in 1875, and she died at 122 years old in 1997 on August 4. Kalman lived longer than her children and grandchildren. IN scientific papers information about her life is carefully documented.
Second place. The oldest person on Earth
The Guinness Book of Records says that the most old man- This is Shigechio Izumi from Japan. He is said to have been born in 1865 on June 29th and died in 1986 on February 21st. If the date of birth is correct, then he spent 120 years in this world, and this means that he ranks second in the list of long-livers after Jeanne Louise Calment. However, according to other sources, he passed away at the age of 105. What information is correct, we most likely will not be able to find out. But, despite this, Shigechio Izumi still set a record, albeit in terms of duration labor activity. He worked for 98 years. Another interesting fact is that after 70 years of life he began to smoke.
Second contender for the title of "Oldest Man on Earth"
If we take into account that the date of birth of the Japanese Izumi is incorrect, then the oldest man can rightfully be considered Thomas Peter Thorvald Christian Ferdinand Mortenses, who lived 115 years. He was born in Denmark in 1882 on August 16, and died in 1998 on April 15. There are records of his baptism left in the church, which in no way call into question Christian’s real age.
How old is the oldest person alive today?
The first place on this list is rightfully occupied by the Frenchwoman Anne Eugenie Blachard. Her age has already exceeded 117 years. She was born on February 16, 1896. The oldest male person on Earth today is American Walter Breuning. He was born in the same year as Blachard, only on September 21st.
Probably everyone dreams of living a long life filled with happy moments, but, on the other hand, this also has its downsides. Think for yourself, friends, parents, children, and sometimes even grandchildren of centenarians die before them, so a person who has suffered so many losses can hardly be considered happy. So don't think about the years, appreciate every minute, every day and every chance and try to live your life as brightly as possible.
We humans are proud of our long (and increasingly longer) lives, but amazing fact is that in terms of longevity Homo sapiens significantly inferior to some other representatives, including sharks, whales and even or. In this article you will learn about the 11 longest-living representatives of various species in order of increasing life expectancy.
The longest living insect is the queen termite (50 years)
People usually think that insects only live for a few days or weeks, but when you're especially important, all the rules break down. Regardless of the species, a termite colony is ruled by a king and queen. Once inseminated by a male, the queen slowly increases her egg production, starting with a few dozen eggs and eventually reaching a target of about 25,000 eggs per day (not all of these eggs mature, of course). Far from becoming predators' dinner, termite queens have been known to reach 50 years of age, and termite kings (who spend almost their entire lives locked in the mating chamber with their fertile queens) also have relatively long life. As for the simple worker termites that make up the bulk of the colony, they live a maximum of one to two years. This is the fate of an ordinary slave.
The longest living fish is koi carp (50 years)
IN wildlife fish rarely live longer than a few years, and even aquarium fish gold fish requires good care to reach a decade. But many fish in the world would envy the colorful koi carp popular in Japan and other parts of the world, including the United States. Like other representatives of cyprinids, they can withstand a wide variety of conditions environment, although (especially considering their bright colors, which people like), they are not particularly well camouflaged for protection from predators. Individual koi are thought to live over 200 years, but the most widely accepted estimate among scientists is 50 years, which is much longer than average inhabitant your aquarium.
The longest living bird is the macaw (100 years)
These colorful parrots are capable of reproducing throughout their lives, with females incubating eggs and caring for chicks while males forage for food. With a lifespan of up to 60 years in the wild and up to 100 years in captivity, macaws are almost as long as humans. Ironically, although these birds can live a very long time, many species are endangered due to people's desire to keep them as pets and deforestation. The longevity of macaws and other members of the parrot family begs the question: Since birds evolved from dinosaurs, and since we know that many dinosaurs were just as small and colorful, could some of these prehistoric reptiles have reached the age of a century?
The longest living amphibian is the European proteus (100 years)
If you were asked to name animals that regularly reach the century mark, the blind amphibian is the European proteus ( Proteus anguinus) will probably be last on your list: how can a frail, eyeless, cave-dwelling, 30cm amphibian survive for even a couple of weeks in the wild? Naturalists attribute the longevity of the European Proteus to its unusually slow metabolism. These amphibians reach sexual maturity only at 15 years, and also lay eggs no more than once every 12 years. They hardly move except when searching for food. Moreover, in damp caves Southern Europe, where the European proteus lives, there are practically no predators, which allows it to live up to 100 years in the wild. For comparison, Japanese giant salamander, which comes second on the list of long-lived amphibians, rarely surpasses the 50-year mark.
The longest living primate is humans (100 years)
Humans often live to be 100 years or more, making us the record holders for the longest life expectancy among primates. There are about half a million people in the world who are about 100 years old. Tens of thousands of years ago Homo sapiens was considered elderly if he lived to be 20-30 years old, and until the 18th century average duration life rarely exceeded 50 years. The main culprits were high infant mortality and susceptibility to fatal diseases. However, at any stage human history if you managed to survive in early childhood And adolescence, your chances of living to 50, 60 or even 70 have increased significantly. To what can we attribute this amazing increase in longevity? Well, in a word, civilization, especially sanitation, medicine, nutrition and cooperation (during ice age a tribe of people most likely left their elderly relatives to starve in the cold, and today we make special efforts to care for our octogenarian relatives.)
The longest living mammal is the bowhead whale (200 years)
As a rule, more large mammals have a relatively long lifespan, but even by this standard, bowhead whales are far ahead, often exceeding the 200-year mark. IN Lately Analysis of the bowhead whale genome has shed some light on this mystery: it turns out that these whales have unique genes that help with DNA repair and resistance to mutations (and therefore cancer). Because the bowhead whale lives in arctic and subarctic waters, its relatively slow metabolism may also have something to do with its longevity. Today, there are about 25,000 bowhead whales in the northern hemisphere, a positive population recovery trend since 1966, when major international efforts were made to curb whalers.
The longest living reptile is the giant tortoise (300 years)
Giant Galapagos tortoises and Seychelles are classic examples of "island gigantism" - the tendency of animals confined to island habitats and without natural predators to grow to unusual heights large sizes. And these turtles have a lifespan that perfectly matches their weight, ranging from 200 to 500 kg. Giant tortoises are known to live longer than 200 years, and there is every reason to believe that in the wild they regularly surpass the 300-year mark. Like some of the other animals on this list, the reasons for the longevity of giant tortoises are obvious: these reptiles move very slowly, their basal metabolism is extremely low, and life stages, as a rule, are relatively stretched (for example, giant turtle Aldabra reaches sexual maturity only at 30 years old).
The longest living shark is the Greenland shark (400 years)
If there was justice in the world, the Greenland shark would be as famous as the big one. White shark: It is also large (some adults exceed 1000 kg) and much more exotic given its northern Arctic habitat. You might think the Greenland shark is as dangerous as a jaw star, but while a hungry white shark will bite you in half, the Grenadian shark is relatively harmless to humans. However, the most remarkable fact regarding Greenland shark, is its life expectancy of more than 400 years. This longevity is explained by the cold habitat and very low metabolism. Surprisingly, these sharks reach sexual maturity after 100 years, despite the fact that most others at that age are not only sexually inactive, but are long dead!
The longest living mollusk is the Icelandic cyprina ( Arctica islandica) (500 years)
A 500-year-old clam sounds like a joke since most clams are practically motionless, so how can you tell with certainty whether it is alive or not? However, there are scientists who study such things, and they have determined that Cyprina Icelandica ( Arctica islandica) can literally live for centuries, as evidenced by one specimen that passed the 500-year mark (you can tell the age of a clam by counting the growth rings on its shell). Ironically, cyprina is also a popular food in some parts of the world, meaning that most shellfish will never be able to celebrate their 500th anniversary. Biologists have yet to figure out why Arctica islandica live so long, but one reason may be the relatively stable levels of antioxidants that prevent the damage responsible for most signs of aging in animals.
The longest-living microorganisms are endoliths (10,000 years)
Determining the lifespan of microorganisms is a rather complex process. In a sense, all bacteria are immortal because they spread their genetic information by constantly dividing (rather than, like most higher animals, by having sex). The term "endoliths" refers to algae, or algae, that live deep underground in crevices rocks, corals and animal shells. Research has shown that some individuals from endolith colonies undergo cell division only once every hundred years, and their life expectancy reaches 10,000 years. Technically, this is different from the ability of some microorganisms to revive after stagnation or deep freezing after tens of thousands of years. Endoliths are literally constantly “alive”, although not very active. They are autotrophic organisms that carry out metabolism not with the help of oxygen or sunlight, and using inorganic chemical substances, which are practically inexhaustible in their habitats.
The longest living invertebrate is Turritopsis dohrnii (potentially immortal)
There is no reliable way to determine how many years the average jellyfish lives. These are so fragile that they do not lend themselves to intensive research in laboratories. However, no ranking of long-lived animals would be complete without mentioning Turritopsis dohrnii- a species of jellyfish that is capable of reverting to the polyp stage after reaching sexual maturity, making them potentially immortal. However, it is almost incredible that any individual T. dohrnii could live for millions of years. Biological "immortality" does not mean that you will not be eaten by other animals or killed by sudden changes in environmental conditions. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to keep jellyfish T. dohrnii in captivity, a feat that has so far only been accomplished by one scientist working in Japan.
Loading...
