It’s time for the perennial favorite top 10 list of the oldest people ever. Living to be 100 is still very rare. According to newretirement.com, worldwide, only 6 in 100,000 will do it. So how much of this really applies to us? I hope it applies to me, but I really don’t know. Right now, there’s no formula for living to 100. Just not enough data.
The people on this list are those for which there is documented proof of their age. I’ll give you the whole list in countdown fashion, the changes since last year, then a little biographical info on a super-centenarian. Super-centenarians are people who have lived longer than 110 years, which includes everyone on this top 10 list.
Number 10 on the list of people with the highest verified age, down one from number 9 last year, is Misao Okawa, of Japan, who lived from 1898 to 2015, 117 years, 27 days.
Coming in at number 9 we have Chiyo Miyako, also Japanese, 1901 to 2018, total age 117 years, 81 days. Moved down from number 8 last year.
Number 8 is Emma Morano, the only Italian on the list, who lived 1899 to 2017, 117 years, 137 days.
Number 7: Violet Brown from Jamaica, lived from 1900 to 2017, 117 years, 189 days. That adds some geographical diversity to the list. But for some reason, I always think of Jamaica as being part of the U.S. It used to be British, but it’s a lot closer to us than it is to London.
Number 6, from Canada, another continental American, Marie-Louise Meilleur, lived to the age of 117 years, 230 days, 1880 to 1998.
Fifth on the list is Nabi Tajima, 2nd oldest Japanese person ever, 1900-2018, 117 years, 260 days. Down from #4 last year.
Number 4, moving up from 10 in her rookie year on the list last year, Lucille Randon, 2nd oldest Frenchwoman ever. Born in 1904 and also the 2nd oldest living person, as of this writing she is 117 years, 324 days.
Still at Number 3, the oldest living person, Kane Tanaka. Born in 1903, as of today she is 118 years, 364 days. And since her birthday is January 2nd, she will be 119 years old tomorrow if she survives the night, only the 3rd person ever to reach that age, and the first person to get to 119 in 22 years. And if she lives another 97 days after that, she will reach number 2 on the all-time list.
Holding on by just 98 days to the number 2 spot is the only United States citizen on the list, Sarah Knauss, who lived from 1880 to 1999, almost lived in 3 centuries. She reached the age of 119 years, 97 days.
And the all-time oldest person is the same person it has been since 1988, Jeanne Calment of France. She lived from 1875 to 1997, 122 years, 164 days.
These are all women, of course, no man has made it in the top 10, at least not recently. The oldest man is Jiroemon Kimura, Japanese, and he lived to the age of 116 years, 54 days. The oldest living man is Spaniard Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia, who is 112 years, 324 days. He’s gotta hang on a couple more years just to make it on the all-time men’s top 10.
As I said, no one in the top 10 is new this year, but number 3 with a bullet on the oldest living list is Brazilian Antonia da Santa Cruz, and if she lives until next year’s episode, she will be number 10 on the list of the oldest people ever.
Whenever a new person joins the list, I do a more detailed biography. So you can look for past episodes in which I featured everyone on the list right now. Check out the show notes at http://RunningAFEVER.com/293 where I provide links to all these old episodes.
Well, this is always a fun thing to do, maybe a little bit inspiring as we seek to live long, happy, healthy, active lives.
Biographical episodes on individuals in the list:
1. Jeanne Calment http://RunningAFEVER.com/170
2. Sarah Knauss http://RunningAFEVER.com/169
3. Kane Tanaka http://RunningAFEVER.com/212
4. Lucille Randon http://RunningAFEVER.com/251
5. Nabi Tajima http://RunningAFEVER.com/168
6. Marie-Louise Meilleur http://RunningAFEVER.com/166
7. Violet Brown http://RunningAFEVER.com/165
8. Emma Morano http://RunningAFEVER.com/164
9. Chiyo Miyako http://RunningAFEVER.com/163
10. Misao Okawa http://RunningAFEVER.com/162
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oldest_people
https://www.newretirement.com/retirement/live-to-be-100-how-much-need-retirement/
Image by Nile from Pixabay