World's Oldest Clown Dies - Age 98

Sadly.

World's Oldest Clown Dies - Age 98

World's second-oldest animal dies at 270

A turtle considered to be the world’s second-oldest animal has died in Egypt’s Giza Zoo aged 270, a local newspaper reported Thursday.

Longevity War Wages Online

Longevity enthusiasts, researchers and fans are divided or perhaps they have just collided.

Who are the oldest people?

What is the legitimate means of verifying age?
Historical birth records which have not been around for very long and are the legal means of doing so?Oral history should count for something, no? Folklore?
First person testimony?
Scientific analysis?
And then there are the published myths of longevity many of us know from the Bible and elsewhere and those stories we read in Weekly World News which easily could have appeared in The Onion.

And should Wikipedia have an entries for Longevity, Longevity Myths or Traditions? And what about record breaking super-centenarians (individuals who live longer than 100)?

The war goes on here.

Actress Gloria Stuart 1900-2010

Gloria Stuart was the oldest Academy award nominated actress for her role in Titanic (1997) at age 87. She died last month at age 100. Not shabby!

Oldest Twin Controversy

Cao Daqiao and Cao Xiaoqiao will be 105

Twins in France had a birthday last week. They were 98. (No, that's not them in the photo on the right.) Perhaps it was translation from French? Perhaps it's just news on the internet? But they are billed as the World's Oldest Twins.

As you may have guessed, this is not true. There are people out there keeping tabs on the demographics of all 6+ billion of us. Of course, they make mistakes, but according to them (via Wikipedia - which I would trust with all my most precious memories) the oldest Twins are in China and they are much older.

Born on October 5, 1905, Cao Daqiao and Cao Xiaoqiao will be 105 tomorrow!

(They are pictured here in a story from http://www.mirror.co.uk/.)

Happy Birthday Walter Breuning - world's oldest man

On Tuesday Walter Breuning of Great Falls, Montana, the world's oldest man, will enjoy his 114 birthday.

Dutch Men are getting Older and Older

There are more centenarians in Holland than before! And more old men than last year. But those older women still outnumber the men ... and for some reason always will.

130 Year Old Man

Here's a 130 year old man... according to his ID.
Of course his son looks about 45, so he would have been 85 when he was born.
Well, you never know...

Oldest Twins Die at 105

Ellen Robertson of Winnipeg and her sister Sarah Jeanmougin of Arizona have died. They were 105 and were the world's oldest twins. Robertson died in late December and Jeanmougin died in February.

Very Old Dutch Crooner To the Nazis

Johannes Heesters, the 104-year-old cabaret performer who was once a favorite of Hitler, returned to his Dutch hometown for the first time in four decades to perform.

His performance was not without controversy. Heesters, a super-star in his own right, said he was not being political when he became a favorite performer for the Germans occupying The Nederlands during WWII.

Oldest Woman: Israeli Muslim

According to her birth certificate, issued by the Ottoman Empire authorities, Mariam Amash was born near her current home in the village of Jisr az-Zarka in 1888.

She has 10 children, 120 grandchildren, 250 great-grandchildren, and 30 great-great-grandchildren.

Nigeria: Oldest Man On Earth Dies

Alhaji Ladan, who was said to have been born around 1873, has died. If his age could be authenticated, he would have been by far the oldest man on earth.

The Igabi man from Kaduna State, Nigeria may have been 135 years old and may have left behind four children, 77 grand children and 182 great grand children.

The Oldest Americans

Here's a good round-up of supercentenarian-ness in a recent Daily Herald story.

Including this:

Oldest Americans

The Gerontology Research Group keeps track of supercentenarians, those who are at least 110 years old. These are the oldest people in the United States.

114 years old:

• Edna Parker, Indiana

113 years old

• Arbella Ewing, Texas
• Gertrude Baines, California
• Catherine Hagel, Minnesota

112 years old

• Beatrice Farve, Georgia
• Elizabeth Stefan, Connecticut
• Mary J. Ray, New Hampshire
• Olivia P. Thomas, New York
• Neva Morris, Iowa
• Maggie Renfro, Louisiana

111 years old

• C. Letitia Lawson, Iowa
• George Francis, California
• Helen Johnson, Oregon
• Eunice Sanborn, Texas
• Florence Busch, Wisconsin
• Besse Cooper, Georgia
• Berta Rosenberg, New York
• Walter Breuning, Montana
• Walter Seward, New Jersey
• Nellie Jones, Michigan
• Beatrice Cooper, Michigan

110 years old

• Hattie Lafayette, Michigan
• Mississippi Wynn, Louisiana
• Dina Manfredini, Iowa
• Viola Koch, California
• M. Chrissie Martenstein, California
• Mary Gentry, Alabama
• Ella Schuler, Kansas
• Ethel Johnson, Ohio
• Noemi Anderson, California
• Ruth M. Lincoln, Arkansas
• Harvey Hite, Indiana

Oldest WWI Veteran has died

Harry Landis, the oldest US WWI veteran has died in Florida at age 108. OK, I said that already in the title of this post. But in December, J. Russell Coffey - the last oldest WWI veteran - died in Ohio at age 109. This leaves one known WWI survivor of the 4.7 million who served. Frank Buckles of West Virginia who is 107 was only 16 when he enlisted - he lied about his age.

Oldest Afghan Man 117 Gone

Khudai Birdy, the oldest man in Afghanistan, has died at age 117. The next oldest is 113.

According to his 15th son Khan Mohammad, Khudai, believed to bethe oldest man in Afghanistan, had married four times and left behind 40 children and 200 grandsons.

Oldest Inmate Dies

Wisconsin’s oldest inmate, Ellef Ellefson, died at age 103. Ellefson, a serial sex offender, spent a lot of time behind bars. At age 95, he was committed by the state beyond his sentencing.

100-year-old man stars in conceptual art

A 100 year old man is being paid $100 per day to be a human subject of conceptual art.

In Yazoo City, Mississippi, Walter Carter has been featured in works by New York-based African-American artist Ralph Lemon.

Oldest Native Eyak Speaker Dead

Marie Smith Jones, the last full-blooded member of Alaska's Eyak Indians and the last fluent speaker of their native language, has died. She was 89. The Eyaks live near Prince William Sound, Alaska.

She worked with a linguist to compile an Eyak dictionary and grammar.

Undoubtedly there is a need to provide a record of the Eyak language in digital form on the internet.

There are 7,000 unique languages spoken on this planet. One language is lost every two weeks. Now another human language and part of a culture are gone.

A recent movie, The Linuists, describes the relevance of this, as well as the pursuit of some lesser known languages.

Oldest Oscar Nominees

This just in on Oscar news:

Ruby Dee, 83, is the second oldest Oscar nominee for acting ever. Gloria Stuart, nominated for “Titanic” in 1998, was 87 at the time of her nomination. If Dee wins, she becomes the oldest Oscar winner for acting ever. There’s an age difference of 70 years between her and fellow supporting actress nominee Saoirse Ronan, 13.

Hal Holbrook, meanwhile, is the oldest male actor ever nominated. (He's 82).

Announcing The Oldest Barber in The World

Anthony Mancinelli, a 96 year old New Yorker, has been declared the oldest barber in the world. He's been a barber for 83 years. Finally, the crazy Guinness World Records has sent Mancinelli a certificate.