home » Summer clothes » The oldest people on the planet today. The oldest people in the world

The oldest people on the planet today. The oldest people in the world

Duration human life depends on many factors: lifestyle, nutrition, place of residence, genetic predisposition to certain diseases. In the CIS countries, the average life expectancy is somewhere around 60 years for men and 65 for women. In countries Western Europe this figure is slightly higher. But the people who will be discussed further broke all records and demonstrated a great love for life.

Supercentenarians

Most an old man in history

The person who lived the longest was a woman (according to statistics, women live longer than men). The name of this heroine is Jeanne Louise Calment, this woman was born back in 1875 on February 21 in France, and died on August 4, 1997. Her total life expectancy is 122 years and 164 days(44724 total days). Zhanna became a person who lived the most long life of all those known to science. The woman outlived her daughters and even her grandchildren. Information about the life expectancy of this heroine is carefully documented in scientific papers.

Oldest man

There is some debate regarding the age of the oldest man. claims that the record holder is the Japanese Shigechiyo Izumi. He is said to have been born on June 29, 1865, and died on February 21, 1986. If the date of his birth is correct (apparently no documents have survived), then the centenarian from Japan lived 120 years and 237 days. Only a long-liver from France, Jeanne Calment, survived it. Shigechio was not only the oldest man on the planet, he also set the record for the longest working life for a person, 98 years. Surprisingly seniority The Japanese live much longer than the average life expectancy in Europe today. His name was recorded in Japan's first census in 1871. Interestingly, the man started smoking at the age of 70. However, after the death of the centenarian, the Department of Epidemiology in Tokyo and the Institute of Gerontology reported that, based on family registration records, Shigechio died at the age of 105 years. Whether this is true or not, we probably won’t be able to find out.

The second candidate for the right to be called the oldest man who ever lived on Earth is Thomas Peter Thorvald Christian Ferdinand Mortensen (August 16, 1882 - April 25, 1998). Although Thomas's date of birth is not shrouded in darkness, the Guinness Book of Records nevertheless considers him second, after Shigechio Izumi. Christian Mortensen is the oldest person born in Denmark, he is one of the ten oldest people on the planet. In total he lived 115 years and 252 days. There can be no doubt about Christian Mortensen's lifespan, and there are birth records, church baptism records, and even Danish census records that indicate his date of birth is correct.

Oldest person alive today

The oldest woman turned out to be Anna Eugenie Blanchard (born February 16, 1896), a French centenarian. The woman has lived for more than 114 years and 142 days.
The oldest man alive today is Walter Breuning, born September 21, 1896, a long-lived American. At the age of 113 years 290 days, he ranked 4th among the oldest people on the planet, ahead of him were only three women, one of whom was Anna Blanchard.

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 lives. 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 for over 200 years, but the most widely accepted estimate among scientists is 50 years, which is much longer than the average koi in 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, the damp caves of Southern Europe where the European proteus lives have virtually no predators, allowing it to live up to 100 years in the wild. By comparison, the Japanese giant salamander, which is 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 the average life expectancy rarely exceeded 50 years. High infant mortality rates and susceptibility to fatal diseases were the main culprits. However, at any stage of 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 are making special efforts to take care of 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 unusually large sizes 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 extended (for example, the Aldabra giant tortoise reaches sexual maturity only at 30 years of age).

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 relative to the Greenland shark, is its lifespan 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" doesn't mean you won't be eaten or killed by other animals sudden changes 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.

The question of the length of human life has occupied the minds of scientists from all countries and peoples for many centuries.

What affects life expectancy?

Factors that undoubtedly influence a person’s life span are: place of residence (from climatic features territory up to cultural traditions of the peoples inhabiting it), attitude to health and nutrition, as well as genetic predisposition (if there were already long-livers in the family of this individual).

The oldest people on Earth who manage to live a long time certainly arouse interest from scientists. Many are convinced that it is in their lifestyle that the key to longevity should be sought. The most comprehensive work in this direction was carried out by the team of searching for records from the well-known book of the same name. Finally, it was possible to establish the names and identities of long-lived heroes not only in the present, but also in the distant past.

The record was set

Over the entire existence of the Guinness Book of Records, hundreds of people have submitted applications to it who want to immortalize themselves or their loved ones and enter world history as "the oldest man on Earth." It's no secret that our average life expectancy is considered to be from 65 to 80 years. However, this does not prevent many people from overcoming this milestone and easily living two or even three lives of an average person. So who are they, people who have seen several eras?

As already mentioned, there are surprisingly quite a lot of them. However, among those living and those who have already died, only four are worth mentioning. The oldest people on Earth are Jeanne Louise Calment, Shigechio Izumi, Thomas Peter Thorvald Christian and Anna Eugenie Blanchard. They were the ones who managed to be included in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest people in our history.

Zhanna Kalman

He is considered the undisputed favorite in this race. Today she is the longest-lived living and deceased person and bears the title of “the oldest person on Earth”, posthumously.

It is not surprising that a woman occupies a leading position. Scientists have long established that representatives fair half On average, humanity manages to live 15-20 years longer than men.

Frenchwoman Jeanne Louise Calment was born almost a century and a half ago, back in 1875. She passed away at the age of 122, on August 4, 1997. Almost 45 thousand days of life is the longest period ever recorded. She managed to outlive her own children and even some grandchildren.

For my amazing life Zhanna Kelman managed to witness many historical events. She was 14 years old when the legendary architect Alexander Eiffel finished building his tower. At the same age she met Vincent Van Gogh and, according to her, great artist Jeanne did not like the post-impressionist at all, as he was very gloomy and unkempt. Zhanna Kelman also attended the funeral of the poet Victor Hugo.

Contrary to popular belief that smoking is one of the most harmful habits affecting life expectancy, Zhanna, the oldest person on Earth, became addicted to cigarettes in at a young age. According to her relatives, she smoked at least twice a day for most of her life.

Until her 110th birthday, Zhanna Kelman lived independently, without requiring any help or support. She then moved into a nursing home, where she spent the rest of her life. Zhanna is known as the oldest person on Earth; her photo can be seen below. She managed to give many interviews and participate in the filming of several documentaries.

Second place

These two centenarians currently share second place in the Guinness Book of Records. Due to bureaucratic nuances and the lack of reliable information, it was not possible to establish who is older. Only one thing is clear - both Izumi and Christian are by far the oldest among men.

A native of Denmark, Thomas Peter, lived 115 years, and the Japanese Shigechio Izumi, according to some sources, 105, and some others - 120 years. Representatives of the Book of Records are inclined to the second option and conditionally give the silver medal for Izumi’s longevity, but this must be proven and certified this fact, unfortunately, it is not possible.

Shigechiyo Izumi

Shigechio Izumi is the oldest male person on earth in history. He was born in 1865 and died in 1986. Unfortunately, there are simply no documents that could confirm his date of birth, and this figure is known literally from the words of his relatives and Izumi himself. In addition to the record of longevity, he is also registered as a person who has worked for more than 98 years - the longest period of working life. This is much longer than the average life expectancy in some states. The Japanese man's name appears in one of the oldest censuses ever conducted, which took place in his home country in 1871. According to family records, Shigechio died at the age of 105, but the reliability of this information is highly questionable.

Thomas Peter Thorwald Christian

Thomas Peter Thorwald Christian was born in 1882 and died in 1998. The data on his life expectancy from birth to death is not questioned, and it is 115 and a half years. This is confirmed by the date of Peter’s baptism recorded in the church, and by population censuses conducted in Denmark.

The oldest person on Earth still living

Whether the agreed top three will remain with their records these days largely depends on one person. Frenchwoman Anne Eugenie Blanchard recently celebrated her 119th birthday. She is the oldest person on Earth. Walter Breuning, one of the representatives of the male half of the planet's population, is still alive and the oldest US citizen. As for Anna Eugenie Blanchard, at present, she occupies the absolute leading position among those still alive and has already overtaken Torvald in age, currently catching up with Izumi.

Probably everyone dreams of living forever. Well, if not forever, then at least for a very long time. Long enough to look at my own children and grandchildren. However, the characteristics of the human body, as scientists have proven more than once, cannot allow

It's all about the structure and special functional structure of our cells. You can become the oldest person on earth only if special conditions work, both of the whole organism and of each cell individually. The cells of the body are renewed once in a certain period equal to 10-15 years of life.

The update process is complete. During the process of renewal of damaged cells, damaged DNA molecular chains are restored, but do not fully function, as a new cell does. Over the course of life, the number of such damaged molecules accumulates, body functions deteriorate, and death occurs.

But let's return to the oldest man on the planet. In 1933, an obituary appeared in American popular magazines, from which humanity learned that a man who was 256 years old at that time had died. His name was Li Ching-Yun, he lived in China and, according to some sources, was born either in 1736 or 1677.

The oldest man on the planet spent his entire life collecting, preparing and selling medicinal herbs. His trips to Tibet, Kan-Su, Shanxi, Manchuria and other countries that are home to rare medicinal plants are known.

The oldest man on earth practiced martial arts in his youth, and residents of Sichuan, the province where Lee Ching-Yun lived all his life, say that he was a vigorous and strong man, middle-aged, even when they were very young. Moreover, they told how their grandfathers recalled that they knew this man when they themselves were still small.

The oldest man had 24 wives and raised 180 heirs, many of whom are now deceased. The oldest man on earth always observed strict diet, ate only rice and wine, drank herbal decoctions that he collected himself.

Scientists from Chengdu University discovered the records of the Chinese Imperial Court on the census data of China, and in these records they found a report of congratulations to Li Ching-yung on his hundred and fiftieth birthday in 1827, and in 1877 the government did not forget its centenarian, and again congratulated the oldest person on Earth with its bicentenary.

Just before his death in 1927, the oldest man on the planet was invited to the city of Wang Xian by a certain general Yang Sen, who was amazed by the excellent physical and mental condition of the old man. This was surprising, especially since on the eve of his death the oldest man gathered his many relatives and announced to them the completion of his life. life path, and the intention to soon leave our world and return home. He always instructed those around him to keep his heart calm, because this prolongs life.

It is quite natural that each of us wants to live as long as possible, and admires centenarians who managed to see many world events at once. Almost everyone has relatives who managed to live over 95 years, and we are very proud of them. But there are also people in the world whose life expectancy is over 110 years, and we propose to get acquainted with where the oldest people on the planet live.

At the end of November 1899, Emma Martina Luigia Morano was born in the Italian town of Civiasco. Later she had four more sisters and three brothers. Note that many representatives of this family are among the long-livers. For example, Emma’s mother, aunt and her brothers were lucky enough to live to be more than 90 years old, but one of her sisters even lived to be 102 years old.

Her father's work forced Emma's family to move to Ossola. But climatic conditions there they turned out to be so severe that doctors recommended moving to a province with a more acceptable climate. Since then, Emma has lived next to Lake Lago Maggiore in Pallanza.

A month before her 27th birthday, Emma became the wife of Giovanni Martinzuzzi, and after 11 years of marriage they had a child, but, unfortunately, he died six months after birth. Although a couple long time continued to remain married, she can hardly be counted among the happy ones, and since 1938 they practically did not live together. In 1975, Emma decided to retire.

Today, she continues to live alone in her lakeside home. Emma shared the secrets of her longevity with reporters, saying that she did not use medicines, eats 3 soft-boiled eggs daily, as well as meat. In addition, he does not miss the opportunity to have a glass of homemade brandy and enjoy chocolate. She considers her optimism to be the most important criterion for longevity; she is also sure that an extremely short period of marriage also helped in longevity.

Another one old resident planet - Jamaican Violet Brown, who is 3.5 months younger than the Italian (born March 10, 1900). Violet's mother also lived a fairly long life (she died at the age of 96). When Violet's age exceeded 60, she decided to get married, Augustus Gaynor Brown became her chosen one, and soon their daughter was born.

After the British woman Ethel Lang died at the beginning of 2015, Violet received the title of the last living subject of Queen Victoria, who managed to survive the Victorian era.

Born on August 4th, Japanese woman Nabi Tazima currently holds the title of the oldest verified resident of all of Asia. Currently, she is among the TOP 20 oldest inhabitants of the planet in history. In addition, the Japanese woman gave birth to 9 children, who gave her 28 grandchildren, 56 great-grandchildren and 35 great-great-grandchildren.

The oldest people on the planet in history

Born on February 21, 1875 in French city Arles Jeanne Louise Calment can boast that almost all members of her family are long-livers. For example, her mother managed to live to 86 years, her brother to 97, and her father was one year short of his centenary. Unfortunately, this cannot be said about Jeanne’s offspring, because she outlived her daughter and even one grandson.

Jeanne managed to survive two world wars, she personally watched the construction of the Eiffel Tower, was a little familiar with Vincent Van Gogh, and in 1990 she even starred in a film about him. Zhanna passed away in 1997; at that time she was 123 years old.

The title of the second officially registered record holder belongs to the American Sarah Knaus, born on September 20, 1880. As you know, the daughters considered Sarah very calm and reserved woman, which almost nothing can piss off. A woman died in a nursing home on December 30, 1999.

Another representative of the United States in this ranking was born on July 16, 1875. Lucy had good heredity - her two sisters managed to live for more than a century, but her mother did not live to see it for one year. Lucy herself died at the age of 117 years and 248 days. At the same time, the woman’s relatives claimed that as a result of problems with documents, Hannah’s age was underestimated by a year, but this fact could not be proven.

The oldest man on the planet among men

The title of the oldest man on the planet belongs to Mziroemon Kimura, who was born on April 19, 1897. For a long period of time he acted as a postman, however, having reached 40 years of service, he decided to retire. His next calling was to work on a farm, which he continued until his 90th birthday, when his legs began to weaken.

Talking about secrets so long life, Kimura talked about eating in moderation. In addition, the Japanese was a very sociable person and often received guests. He liked to spend time reading newspapers and watching TV, where he was interested in politics and sumo.

Kimura died at the age of 116 from pneumonia. The list of his heirs consisted of seven children, 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and 13 great-great-grandchildren.

Unofficial centenarians

Until this point, the article listed only those centenarians whose age could be officially determined. But, unfortunately, it did not include other “very, very” centenarians, who, due to various objective reasons, were unable to prove their age (wars, as a result of which records with data on newborns were destroyed, lack of literacy in small villages, where there is no documentation and was not carried out at all, etc.).

Therefore, this list should still be supplemented by representatives of Hungary Petridge and Zortai, who managed to live 186 and 185 years, respectively, Ossetian Tense Abziva (180 years), Albanian Hagger (170 years) and representative of Pakistan Sayyad Mabuda, who failed only a year live to see your 160th birthday.

Views