Americans Becoming New Longevity Record Setters: 14 of Oldest 30

Sept. 8, 2005 – Americans have generally not been noted for setting longevity records. The oldest people seem to usually be in Japan or a colder region, like Sweden or Norway. All of a sudden, that appears to be changing with Americans now representing almost half of the 30 oldest people in the world and holding the top three positions in the rankings. Only two men are on the list - one American and one Puerto Rican.

Life Expectancy Hits Record High 77.6 Years

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There are actually 14 U.S. citizens in the top 30 list maintained by the Gerontology Research Group. The first three are U.S. women from the South - Elizabeth "Lissie" Bolden, 115, Tennessee; Bettie Wilson, 114, Mississippi, and Susie Gibson, 114, Mississippi.


	Emiliano del Toro - oldest man

In fourth place is Emiliano Mercado del Toro, who is from Puerto Rico, an independent territory of the U.S. He is also the oldest living man and oldest U.S. army veteran.

Right behind him is another North American woman, Julie Winnefred Bertran of Canada.

The only other man in the top 30 is an American, Moses Hardy, 112, of Mississippi. His rank is number 12.

"Lizzie" Bolden, was 115 years and 14 days old, when she officially became the oldest living person and woman in the world on Aug. 30, 2005, according to an announcement by the Guinness World Records. The previous title holder, Hendrikje Van Andel-Schipper of the Netherlands, died in her sleep at 2 a.m. that day. She was 115 years and 62 days old. Read more...

Bolden now oldest person. Photo by Dave Darnell, Memphis Commercial Appeal

Although the U.S. does hold 14 of the top slots - 15 if we count del Toro - Japan is still notable with six of the top 30 spots. So, 20 of the 30 oldest people in the world are from the U.S. and Japan.

(See the chart below for the entire top 30 list)

The Supercentenarian list - anyone who has lived to be 110 years or older - by the Gerontology Research Group, on Sept. 8, 2005, recognized 69 Validated Living Supercentenarians - 63 Women and 6 Men. The all time high, earlier this year, was 71.

In March, the U.S. Census Bureau released estimates for July 1, 2004 showing the number of Americans 85 and older has increased by 14.6 percent since the 2000 census. All persons 65 and older increased by only 3.72% and the total population grew by 4.35 percent. Read more... see senior population numbers by state.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also released a report in March - “Deaths: Preliminary Data for 2003” - showing life expectancy in the U.S. had reached 77.6 years in 2003, up from 77.3 in 2002. Read more...

	Sept. 2, 2005				AGE
	Birthplace	Residence	Name	Born	Years	Days	Race	Sex
1	U.S. (TN)	U.S. (TN)	Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bolden	Aug. 15, 1890	115*	18*	B	F
2	U.S. (MS)	U.S. (MS)	Bettie Wilson	Sept. 13, 1890	114*	354*	B	F
3	U.S. (MS)	U.S. (AL)	Susie Gibson	Oct. 31, 1890	114*	306*	W	F
4	Puerto Rico	Puerto Rico	Emiliano Mercado del Toro	Aug. 21, 1891	114*	12*	H	M
5	Canada (Que)	Canada (Que)	Julie Winnefred Bertrand	Sept. 16, 1891	113*	351*	W	F
6	Italy	Italy	Virginia Dighero-Zolezzi	Dec. 24, 1891	113*	252*	W	F
7	France	France	Camille Loiseau	Feb. 13, 1892	113*	201*	W	F
8	U.S. (PA)	U.S. (PA)	M. Gladys Swetland	Apr. 18, 1892	113*	137*	W	F
9	India	Scotland	Lucy D'Abreu	May 24, 1892	113*	101*	IW	F
10	Reunion (FR)	Reunion (FR)	Julia Sinedia-Cazour	July 12, 1892	113*	52*	B	F
11	Japan	Japan	Yone Minagawa	Jan. 4, 1893	112*	241*	O	F
12	U.S. (MS)	U.S. (MS)	Moses Hardy	Jan. 6, 1893	112*	239*	B	M
13	Japan	Japan	Tane Kominie	Mar. 18, 1893	112*	168*	O	F
14	Japan	Japan	Waki Muneta	Mar. 22, 1893	112*	164*	O	F
15	U.S. (IL)	U.S. (AZ)	Lydia Newton	Mar. 23, 1893	112*	163*	W	F
16	U.S. (IN)	U.S. (IN)	Edna Parker	Apr. 20, 1893	112*	135*	W	F
17	U.S. (VA)	U.S. (VA)	Grace Jones	June 4, 1893	112*	90*	W	F
18	U.S. (NY)	U.S. (CA)	Marion Higgins	June 26, 1893	112*	68*	W	F
19	France	France	Lucie Pere-Pucheu	Aug. 13, 1893	112*	20*	W	F
20	Portugal	Portugal	Maria de Jesus	Sept. 10, 1893	111*	357*	W	F
21	Italy	Italy	Giulia Sani-Casagli	Sept. 15, 1893	111*	352*	W	F
22	Japan	Japan	Fuji Nozawa	Sept. 20, 1893	111*	347*	O	F
23	Japan	Japan	Naka Morii	Sept. 27, 1893	111*	340*	O	F
24	U.S. (PA)	U.S. (OH)	Mary Margaret Smith	Oct. 7, 1893	111*	330*	W	F
25	Italy	Italy	Serafina Naccarato-Magliocchi	Oct. 10, 1893	111*	327*	W	F
26	U.S. (NE)	U.S. (CA)	Rosabell Fenstermaker	Nov. 4, 1893	111*	302*	W	F
27	U.S. (KS)	U.S. (NE)	Agnes Ferron	Nov. 13, 1893	111*	293*	W	F
28	U.S. (NE)	U.S. (NE)	Helen Stetter	Nov. 18, 1893	111*	288*	W	F
29	U.S. (IN)	U.S. (IN)	Bertha Fry	Dec. 1, 1893	111*	275*	W	F
30	Japan	Japan	Shizuko Oyama	Dec. 8, 1893	111*	268*	O	F

Oldest People Ever

Oldest Woman/Person Ever
The oldest fully authenticated age to which any human has ever lived is 122 years and 164 days, by Jeanne-Louise Calment. She was born in France on February 21, 1875, and died at a nursing home in Arles, southern France on August 4, 1997. See the Guinness World Record report – click here.

Oldest Man Ever
The greatest age to which any man has ever lived is 120 years 237 days in the case of Shigechiyo Izumi (Japan) of Isen on Tokunoshima, an island 1,320 km (820 miles) south-west of Tokyo, Japan. He was born at Isen on 29 June 1865 and was recorded as a 6-year-old in Japan's first census of 1871. He died at 12:15 GMT on 21 February 1986 after developing pneumonia.

Links:

Gerontology Research Group - http://grg.org/

Supercentenarian Rankings - http://grg.org/Adams/E.HTM

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