Welcome to Running: A FEVER. This is Michael Davis. Running: A FEVER is a podcast about fitness, diet, and medicine. My goal is to live a long, healthy, happy, active life right up to the very end. And I want to do that by loving my life enough to make it last as long as possible.
And now it’s time for the perennial favorite top 10 list of the oldest people ever. I’m a little surprised to realize that I didn’t do one of these in 2024. So, I’m sure anticipation for this episode is running high. Living to be 100 is still very rare. Still, according to a 2024 estimate by the United Nations, there are 722,000 centenarians around the world (a centenarian is a person who lives to be 100 years old), and that number is growing fast. It is a huge 22% increase from 2023.
A 2024 estimate by Pew Research says there were .03% of us over the age of 100. It’s a fast-growing group. So, how much of this 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 list in countdown fashion and the changes since last year to our list of super-centenarians. Super-centenarians are people who have lived longer than 110 years, which includes everyone on this top 10 list.
Dropping from number 9 to number 10 on the list is Japanese citizen Chiyo Miyako, thanks to a new entry to the top 10 (more on that later). Chiyo lived from 1901 to 2018, a total of 117 years, 81 days.
Emma Morano of Italy moves to number 9 with 118 years, 137 days. She lived from 1899 to 2017.
If the suspense is killing you now, you can relax; it’s over. Coming in at number 8 and new to the top 10 this year is Maria Branyas (I just met a girl named Maria). She’s a citizen of the United States and Spain. She was born in 1907 and died very recently, in August of 2024. She earned her seat by living 117 years, 168 days.
Still at number seven: Violet Brown from Jamaica, who lived from 1900 to 2017, 117 years, 189 days. She’s the only Jamaican on this list.
Number six, from Canada, is Marie-Louise Meilleur, who lived to the age of 117 years, 230 days, from 1880 to 1998.
Fifth on the list is Nabi Tajima, 2nd oldest Japanese person ever, 1900-2018, 117 years, 260 days.
Lucille Randon remains at number 4, the 2nd oldest Frenchwoman ever. Born in 1904 and dying in 2023, Lucille lived 118 years, 340 days.
Coming in at number 3 is American Sarah Knauss, who lived from 1880 to 1999; she reached the age of 119 years, 97 days. She is the only American on the list, except for Maria Branyas, who has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Spain.
Kane Tanaka is second on the list. She lived 119 years, 107 days, from 1903 to 2022. She is one of only three people in the 119 club.
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.
Formerly number 10 and dropping off the list this year is Delphia Welford of the United States. Her 117 years and 66 days lived from 1875 to 1992 were not enough to keep her in the top 10 club. She spent 1 year on the list.
These are all women of course, no man has made it in the top 10, at least not recently. The oldest man is Japan’s Jiroemon Kimura, who lived to the age of 116 years and 54 days.
The oldest living person as of this writing is Japan resident Tomiko Itooka, who was born in 1908 and is currently number 22 on the all-time list with 116 years and 122 days.
The oldest living man as of this writing is now John Tinniswood, who is 112 years, 27 days. He’s still going strong and has reached number 63 among the all-time longest-living men.
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, except for newcomer Maria Branyas. Stay tuned, as she’ll have her own episode next week! Check out the show notes at http://RunningAFEVER.com/386, where I provide links to all these old episodes featuring the longest-lived people.
Well that’s the list. It is so inspiring to see that it’s possible to live to a very advanced age. It also gives us motivation as we look to achieve our goal of living long, happy, healthy, and active lives.
Remember, if you’ve got the fever, keep it burning. And if you don’t, catch the fever, and I’ll see you next time on Running: A FEVER.
Biographical episodes on individuals in the list:
1. Jeanne Calment http://RunningAFEVER.com/170
2. Kane Tanaka http://RunningAFEVER.com/212
3. Sarah Knauss http://RunningAFEVER.com/169
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. Maria Branyas http://RunningAFEVER.com/387
9. Emma Morano http://RunningAFEVER.com/164
10. Chiyo Miyako http://RunningAFEVER.com/163
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_verified_oldest_people
https://tinyurl.com/number-of-people-over-100