Centenarian: Encyclopedia - Centenarian

Centenarian

A centenarian is a person who has attained the age of 100 years or more. The term is associated with longevity because average life expectancies across the world are far from 100. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more.

The United States currently has the greatest number of centenarians in the world, numbering over 55,000 in the year 2005. The U.S. number is partly a function of America's large population in 1890-1905, and a century of peace at home. Japan is second, with 25,000. Many experts attribute this (and Japan's very high life expectancy) to the Japanese diet, which is particularly low in fats. Japanese centenarians receive a silver cup and a certificate from the Prime Minister of Japan upon their 100th birthday, honouring them for their longevity and prosperity in their lives. September 15th was subsequently named "National Respect for the Aged Day", a national holiday in Japan.

In the United States, centenarians traditionally receive a letter from the president upon reaching their 100th birthday, congratulating them for their longevity. Willard Scott of NBC's Today show has also named them on air since 1983. In the United Kingdom, the Queen sends greetings (formerly as a telegram) on the 100th birthday and on every birthday starting with the 105th.

Among Hindus, people who touch the feet of elders are often blessed with "May you live a hundred years". In Sweden, the tradition birthday song states, May he live to his hundredth year. In Poland, Sto lat, a wish to live a hundred years, is a traditional form of praise and good wishes; the Jewish tradition, however, is more ambitious, "May you live as long as Moses", or 120 years. Chinese emperors were hailed to live ten thousand years.

Centenarian - Were there centenarians in ancient times?

While the density of centenarians per capita was much less in ancient times than today, the data suggest that reaching the age of 100 was not impossible then. Though ancient demographics are biased in favor of wealthy or powerful individuals rather than the ordinary person, it is unscientific to suggest that "ordinary persons" lived longer. Grmek and Gourevitch speculate that during the Classical Greek Period, anyone who made it past the age of five years -- surviving all the common childhood illness of that day --had a reasonable chance of living to a ripe old age. Life expectancy at 400 B.C. was estimated to be around 30 years of age. One demographer of ancient civilizations reported that Greek men lived to 45 years (based on a sample size of 91), while women lived to 36.2 years (based on a sample size of 55). Curiously, the gender statistics are inverted compared to today, since child-birth was a much more traumatic experience at that time than now, and it certainly skewed female statistics downward. It was common for average citizens to take great care in their hygiene (sanitation), Mediterranean diet (fish, figs, olive oil, wine, etc.), and exercise program (sports/gymnasium), although there was a lot more male trauma per capita than today and that biased the statistics for men downward. [Ref. Mirko Grmek and Danielle Gourevitch, Illness in Antiquity (Fayard; 1998).]

Ultimately, there is no reason to believe that there could not have been a few men/women in a population of 2,500 years ago who were centenarians, even if they were not commonplace. [Source for Table: Olivier Postel-Vinay, "Histoire Le Cas de la Grece Antique," La Recherche Special -- Vivre 120 Ans, Vol. 322, p. 90 (Paris; July-August 1999). Note: La Recherche is the French equivalent of Scientific American in the English-speaking world.]

Centenarian - Future of Centenarians in the US

The Huffington Center on Aging at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston is another source for information about Centenarians.

As reported on the front cover of USA Today (August 24, 1999), The U.S. Census Bureau has forecast that the number of Americans age 100 or older will increase by more than 22 times the 1990 estimate of 37,306. In October 2001, the US Census Bureau actually reported that there were 50,454 US Centenarians (a more reasonable 35 percent increase) out of a total population of 281.4 million Americans. But by 2050, "the number of US centenarians is expected to reach 834,000 and maybe even 1 million," said Dr. Robert Butler, President of the International Longevity Center in New York City.

From present data, the number of worldwide Centenarians is around 450,000. However, if one considers only the total number of Supercentenarians (by definition, persons surviving to >= 110 years) this number falls dramatically to around 70 worldwide (See details below). There are two persons proven to have lived reached 120; despite the fact that there are a large number of pretenders from other countries, these claimants have never been rigorously validated by means of the sort of documentation that would be sufficient to prove their claim (birth certificates, baptismal certificates, marriage certificates, and so forth). However, record keeping was never rigorous before the age of data processing. Persons born at home in rural areas were frequently lucky if they had a family Bible to record the event let alone the correct spelling of the parents names, their ages at the time, etc.

Other highlights form the 2000 Census Report:

1. The most populous state in the nation, California, has the largest number of centenarian residents, 5,341 or 0.016 percent of its population.
2. The state with the largest percentage of centenarians is South Dakota, where 0.0033 percent of residents were 100 or over. South Dakota was followed by Iowa and the District of Columbia, although this is likely explained by a significant correlation of these jurisdictions with high emigration of younger people.
3. Of the five-year age groups, the [50-to-54] category had the largest increase, up 55 percent to 17.6 million, thanks to the "Baby Boomers".
4. While women still outnumber men at older ages, the gender ratio in the [65-and-over] category increased from 67 men per 100 women in 1990 to 70 men per 100 women in 2000.

Centenarian - List of centenarians

Here is a list of well-known centenarians (with living ones bolded and italicized). This list is divided into sub-lists, according to how the centenarian became well known.

Centenarian - Activists/non-profit leaders

• Albert Jean Amateau (1889-1996)
• Melchora Aquino (1812-1919) "Mother of the Filipino Revolution"
• Catherine Bramwell-Booth (1883-1987), Salvation Army Commissioner
• Ruth Ellis (1899-2000)
• Alice Hamilton (1869-1970)
• Mother Jones (1830-1930)
• Paul Moyer Limbert (1897-1998), YMCA Secretary General
• Zofia Morawska (1904-Living)
• Margaret Murie (1902-2003), conservationist
• Scott Nearing (1883-1983)
• Sanzo Nosaka (1892-1993)
• Frederick J. Schlink (1891-1995), cofounder of Consumers Research
• Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897-2000)
• Thomas Wyatt Turner (1877-1978)
• Irvin F. Westheimer (1879-1980)

Centenarian - Actors/filmmakers/entertainers

• George Abbott (1887-1995)
• Rosa Albach-Retty (1874-1980)
• Etta Moten Barnett (1901-2004)
• Margaret Booth (1898-2002)
• Renate Brausewetter (1905-Living)
• Alice Cooke (1882-1985), stage and film actress
• George Burns (1896-1996)
• Dorothy Dickson (1893-1995)
• Mary Ellis (1897-2003)
• Carl Esmond (1902-2004), German-American actor
• Liane Haid (1895-2000)
• Kathleen Harrison (1892-1995)
• Johannes Heesters (1903-Living)
• Bob Hope (1903-2003)
• Charles Lane (actor) (1905-Living)
• Francis Lederer (1899-2000)
• Frederica Sagor Maas (1900-Living)
• Audrey Munson (1891-1996)
• Ivan Novikoff (1899-2002), ballet teacher
• Risto Orko (1899-2001), Finnish film producer and director
• Irving Rapper (1898-1999), film director
• Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003), German filmmaker
• Hal Roach (1892-1992)
• Tonio Selwart (1896-2002), actor and stage performer
• Athene Seyler (1889-1990)
• Ninette de Valois (1898-2001)
• Señor Wences (1896-1999)
• Estelle Winwood (1883-1984)
• Adolph Zukor (1873-1976)

Centenarian - Artists

• Manuel Alvarez Bravo (1902-2002)
• Ruth Bernhard (1905-Living), American photographer
• Theresa Ferber Bernstein (1890?-2002)
• Alphaeus Philemon Cole (1876-1988)
• Sylvia Daoust (1902-2004), Canadian sculptor
• Hiragushi Denchu (1872-1979), Japanese sculptor
• Boris Efimov (1900-Living), cartoonist
• Kathleen Hale (1898-2000), British illustrator
• Grandma Moses (1860-1961)
• Mirko Racki (1879-1982), Croatian painter
• Bernarda Bryson Shahn (1903-2004)
• Beatrice Wood (1893-1998)

Centenarian - Authors/poets/journalists

• Bajin (1904-2005), Chinese author
• Arthur Judson Brown (1856-1963)
• Pierre Béarn (1902-2004), French poet
• Fulgence Charpentier (1897-2001), Canadian journalist and columnist
• Nirad Chaudhuri (1897-1999)
• Eve Curie LaBouisse (1904-Living), author of biography of her mother Marie Curie
• Geoffrey Dearmer (1893-1996)
• The Delany Sisters (1889-1999; 1891-1995)
• Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890-1998)
• Richard Eberhart (1904-2005), Pulitzer-Prize winning poet
• Juan Filloy (1894-2000), Argentine writer
• Dorothy Frooks (1896-1997)
• Gregorio Fuentes (1897-2002)
• Edward K. Gaylord (1873-1974), newspaper publisher and philanthropist
• Ernst Jünger (1895-1998), German writer (In Stahlgewittern)
• Joseph Nathan Kane (1899-2002)
• Stanley Kunitz (1905-Living), Poet Laureate of the United States
• Arthur Lehning (1899-2000), Dutch writer and anarchist-archivist
• Frances Partridge (1900-2004)
• Fernando Pessa (1902-2002), Portuguese journalist and radio broadcaster
• Carl Rakosi (1903-2004)
• Robert St. John (1902-2003)
• George Seldes (1890-1995)
• Madame Simone (1877-1985) Pen name for Pauline Benda; French actress, writer; obituary in 1985 Britannica Book of the Year
• Grace Zaring Stone (1891-1991), pseudonym: Ethel Vance
• Dragutin Tadijanović (1905-Living), Famous Croatian poet and writer
• Walter Trohan (1903-2003), Chicago Tribune bureau chief and reporter
• Edward Wagenknecht (1900-2004), American writer and historian
• Phyllis A. Whitney (1903-Living)
• Catherine Woolley (1904-2005), Children's book author

Centenarian - Businessmen

• Edward Bernays (1891-1995)
• Andrew George Burry (1873-1975)
• Godfrey Lowell Cabot (1861-1962), Cabot Corporation
• Albert Hamilton Gordon (1901-Living), Kidder, Peabody & Co.
• Cecil H. Green (1900-2003), Texas Instruments co-founder
• Garnet Hercules Mackley (1883-1986), Head of New Zealand Railways
• R. Samuel McLaughlin (1871-1972)
• Roy Neuberger (1903-Living)
• Mohan Singh Oberoi (1898-2002)
• Frits Philips (1905-2005)
• Günter Reimann (1904-2005), economist
• James Stillman Rockefeller (1902-2004), First National City Bank of New York (see also under Sportspeople)
• Jacob Sapirstein (1885-1987) founded American Greetings
• Hermann von Siemens (1885-1986)
• Sir Thomas Sopwith (1888-1989), aircraft pioneer
• W. Clement Stone (1902-2002), insurance leader
• Sir James Swinburne (1858-1958)
• Frank H. Wheaton Sr. (1881-1983) chaired Wheaton Industries until his death
• Abdul Majid Zabuli (1896-1998)

Centenarian - Educators/school administrators

• John Haden Badley (1865-1967) educator, founder of the Bedales School.
• Murray Barnson Emeneau (1904-2005), linguist
• John Morton-Finney (1889-1998)
• Bertrand Leslie Hallward (1901-2003)
• Emily Howland (1827-1929)
• Seymour Lubetzky (1898-2003), librarian
• Millicent Carey McIntosh (1898-2001), President of Barnard College
• Albert E. Meyzeek (1862-1963) "Dean of Negro Education"
• Norman Walker Porteous (1898-2003), Dean at University of Edinburgh
• Laura Woolsey Lord Scales (1879-1990), Dean at Smith College
• Louis Round Wilson (1876-1979) librarian

Centenarian - Explorers

• Alexandra David-Néel (1868-1969)
• Ardito Desio (1897-2001)
• Helge Ingstad (1899-2001)
• Freya Stark (1893-1993)
• Norman Vaughan (1905-2005) Arctic explorer
• Jean-Frédéric Waldeck (1766-1875)

Centenarian - Jurists/practitioners of law

• Sampson Salter Blowers (1742-1842)
• William A. Bootle (1902-2005)
• Melville Henry Cane (1879-1980), American lawyer and poet
• Alfred Denning, Baron Denning (1899-1999), Master of the Rolls
• Rush Limbaugh Sr. (1891-1996), grandfather of talk radio star Rush Limbaugh
• Harold Raymond Medina (1888-1990)
• L. Welch Pogue (1899-2003)
• Hartley Shawcross (1902-2003)
• Samuel Williston (1861-1963)
• Joseph William Woodrough (1873-1977)

Centenarian - Military commanders

• Henry Allingham (1896-Living)
• Alfred Anderson (1896-2005)
• Aaron Bank (1902-2004), "Father of Special Forces"
• Sir Philip Christison (1893-1993), British general
• Henry Fancourt (1900-2004), Royal Navy officer, pioneering Naval Aviator
• Sir George Higginson (1826-1927), British general
• John L. Hines (1868-1968), General, Chief of Staff, US Army
• Harold Lawton (1899-2005)
• Stanislaw Maczek (1892-1994) Polish general
• Sir Henry Oliver (1865-1965), Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy
• Dorothy C. Stratton (1899-Living), director of the SPARS
• James Alward Van Fleet (1892-1992), US general
• Sir Provo Wallis (1791-1892), Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy

Centenarian - Musicians/Composers/music patrons

• Irving Berlin (1888-1989), composer
• Eubie Blake (1883?-1983) Famed Jazz pianist and composer (may have been only 96)
• Irving Caesar (1895-1996)
• Jimmie Davis (1899-2000), singer, songwriter, Governor of Louisiana
• Anthony Galla-Rini (1904-Living), known as "Mister Accordion"
• Sidonie Goossens (1899-2004), harpist from famous music family
• Roy Henderson (1899-2000)
• Bill Johnson (1872-1972)
• Paul Le Flem (1881-1984) French composer
• Conrad Leonard (1898-2003), pianist and composer
• Sir Robert Mayer (1879-1985)
• Marcel Mule (1901-2001)
• Manuel Patricio Rodriguez Garcia (1805-1906), music and singing teacher
• Leo Ornstein (1892-2002)
• Uncle Charlie Osborne (1890-1992), Appalachian mountain music legend
• Joseph Salemi (1902-2003), jazz trombonist
• Nicolas Slonimsky (1894-1995)
• Tillit S. Teddlie (1885-1987), hymn composer
• Grete von Zieritz (1899-2001), pianist and composer

Centenarian - Nobility

• Dominick Geoffrey Edward Browne, 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne (1901-2002)
• Ethel Sydney Keith, Countess of Kintore (1874-1974)
• Frank Douglas-Pennant, 5th Baron Penrhyn (1865-1967)
• Judith, Countess of Listowel (1903-2003)
• Jean Pierre Francois Joseph Pineton, Marquis de Chambrun (1903-2004)
• Cora, Countess of Clancarty (1892-1993)
• Countess Elsa Bernadotte (1893-1996)

Centenarian - Philosophers/theologians

• Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002)
• Charles Hartshorne (1897-2000), pioneer of process theology
• Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1983)
• Oswald von Nell-Breuning (1890-1991)
• Alfred Vaucher (1887-1993), French theologian, church historian
• Paul Weiss (1901-2002)

Centenarian - Politicians/government servants

• Mahmud Celal Bayar (1884-1986), President of Turkey
• Samuel Brawand (1898-2001), Swiss politician
• Nripen Chakraborty (1904-2004), Indian politician, former Chief-minister of Tripura
• Roswell Keyes Colcord (1839-1939)
• Cornelius Cole (1822-1924), longest-lived US senator
• Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres (1721-1824)
• Georges-Casimir Dessaulles (1827-1930), Canadian senator
• Willem Drees (1886-1988), prime minister of the Netherlands
• Eleanor Lansing Dulles (1895-1996), U.S. diplomat
• Jules Ellenberger (1871-1973), British colonial administrator
• Josef Felder (1900-2000)
• Hamilton Fish III (1888-1991), US Congressman
• Henry Richard Gibson (1837-1938), US Congressman
• Marinus van der Goes van Naters (1900-2005), Dutch politician
• John Netherland Heiskell (1872-1972), 2nd US senator to reach 100 years
• Naruhiko Higashikuni (1887-1990)
• Christopher Hornsrud (1859-1960), Prime Minister of Norway
• Konstantinos Kallias (1901-2004), Greek politician
• Paula Karpinski (1897-2005), German politician
• Piet Kasteel (1901-2003), Dutch diplomat, governor of Curaçao
• George F. Kennan (1904-2005), Cold War policy architect
• Alfred M. Landon (1887-1987), governor of Kansas and presidential nominee
• Sir Moses Haim Montefiore (1784-1885)
• Sir William Mulock (1844-1944), Canadian politician and cabinet member
• Muhammad al-Muqri (c. 1844 - 1957)
• George Alexander Parks (1883-1984), territorial governor of Alaska.
• Antoine Pinay (1891-1994), French prime minister
• Edward Raczynski (1891-1993), Polish diplomat
• Richard G. Reid (1879-1980), premier of Alberta
• Nellie Tayloe Ross (1876-1977)
• Susanna M. Salter (1860-1961), Mayor of Argonia, Kansas, first woman mayor in the United States
• Murray Seasongood (1878-1983), mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio
• Ramón Serrano Súñer (1901-2003), Spanish politician
• Emanuel Shinwell (1884-1986)
• Soong May-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek) (1898-2003)
• John Ward Studebaker (1887-1989)
• Reginald H. Sullivan (1876-1980), mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana
• Maurice H. Thatcher (1870-1973), US Congressman
• Strom Thurmond (1902-2003), US Senator
• David Wark (1804-1905), Canadian Senator
• Dr. Cornelius Wiebe (1893-1999), Former Manitoba MLA and longtime Family physician
• Zhang Qun (1889-1990), Chinese politician
• Zhang Xueliang (Chang Hsüeh-liang) (1901-2001), Chinese General, but placed in politician section due to his role in Xian Incident.
• Xenophon Zolotas (1904-2004), former Prime Minister of Greece

Centenarian - Relative of someone well-known

• Brooke Astor (1902-Living), wife of W. Vincent Astor
• Jean Faircloth (1898-2000), wife to Douglas MacArthur
• Jolie Gabor (ca. 1894-1997), mother of Gabor sisters
• Mary Hanford (1901-2004), mother of Elizabeth Dole
• Rose Kennedy (1890-1995), mother of John F. Kennedy
• Martin Konigsberg (1900-2001), father of Woody Allen
• Eve Curie LaBouisse (1904-Living), daughter of Marie Curie
• Richard Mudd (1901-2002), grandson of Samuel Mudd
• Ruby Muhammad (1897-Living) wife of Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad
• Cecelia Gertrude Lenerz Pulvermacher (1895-1999), mother of Lucian Pulvermacher, self-made Antipope Pius XIII.

Centenarian - Religious leaders/Clergymen

• Laban Ainsworth (1757-1858), American clergyman and pastor
• Ananda Maitreya (1896-1998)
• Saint Anthony (251-356)
• Corrado Cardinal Bafile (1903-2005)
• Henry Boehm (1775-1875)
• Arthur Judson Brown (1856-1963) American clergyman, missonary and author
• Archbishop Alfonso Carinci (1862-1963), official of the Roman Curia
• Edward Howard (1877-1983), archbishop
• Francesco Minerva (1904-2004), Archbishop emeritus of Lecce, Italy
• John Linus Paschang (1895-1999), bishop of Grand Island, Nebraska
• Sophronius IV of Alexandria (1798-1899), Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria
• Sri Deep Narayan Mahaprabhuji (1828?-1963)
• Tillit Sidney Teddlie (1885-1987), American hymnalist and pastor
• Daniel Waldo (1762-1864)
• Herbert Welch (1862-1969), Methodist Bishop and President of Ohio Wesleyan University

Centenarian - Royalty

• Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (1901-2004)
• Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1900-2002)

Centenarian - Scientists/mathematicians

• Charles G. Abbot (1872-1973), astronomer and secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
• Horace Alexander (1889-1989), British biologist
• Wilson Baker, FRS (1900-2002) headed school of chemistry at University of Bristol, England
• Arnold O. Beckman (1900-2004)
• Harry Benjamin (1885-1986), German sexologist
• Hans Erhard Bock (1903-2004), German physician, Tübingen
• Boris Yakovlovic Bukreev (1859-1962), Russian mathematician
• Su Buqing (1902-2003), Chinese mathematician
• Henri Cartan (1904-Living), French mathematician
• Michel Eugène Chevreul (1786-1889), French chemist
• Harriette Chick (1875-1977), British biologist
• Samuel Rickard Christophers (1873-1978), protozoologist
• William David Coolidge (1873-1975), American engineer, developer of the Coolidge tube for production of x rays
• Ray Crist (1900-2005), chemist, retired from teaching post in 2004
• Leila Denmark (1898-Living), pediatrician, discovered pertussis vaccine
• Matilda Evans (1872-1975) physician
• Gordon S. Fahrni (1887-1995), physician, expert on goiter
• Raymond Firth (1901-2002), New Zealand anthropologist
• Viktor Hamburger (1900-2001). German biologist
• Arthur R. von Hippel (1898-2003), German-American physicist, codeveloper of radar
• Rudolf Hell (1901-2002), American inventor
• Friedrich Hund (1896-1997) German physicist ("Hund´s rules" )
• Edward Augustus Holyoke (1728-1829), American physician
• Ancel Keys (1904-2004), American biologist
• Nathaniel Kleitman (1895-1999), American physician, discoverer of REM sleep
• Paul E. Klopsteg (1889-1991), American physicist
• Jerome F. Lederer (1902-2004), American engineer
• Inge Lehmann (1888-1993), Danish seismologist
• Ernst Mayr (1904-2005), German-American biologist
• Margaret Alice Murray (1863-1963), British anthropologist
• Pelageya Polubarinova-Kochina (1899-1999), Russian mathematician
• Franco Rasetti (1901-2001), Italian physician
• Henry Nicholas Ridley, British biologist
• Waldo Semon (1898-1999), American chemist
• Brian Shaw (1898-1999), chemist famous for his lectures on explosives
• Nilakantha Somayaji (1444-1544), Indian mathematician
• Dirk Jan Struik (1894-2000), Dutch mathematician
• F. William Sunderman (1898-2003), American physician
• Leopold Vietoris (1891-2002), Austrian mathematician
• Zheng Ji (1900-Living) professor of Nanjing University, Chinese pioneer of nutriology and biochemistry.

Centenarian - Sportspeople

• Constance M. K. Applebee (1873-1981), field hockey
• Ray Cunningham (1905-2005) , Former St. Louis Cardinals third baseman (1931-1932)
• Jacques Gerschwiler (1898-2000), figure skating
• Chet Hoff (1891-1998), oldest MLB player
• Fred W. Hooper (1897-2000), racehorse owner
• Ulrich Inderbinen (1900-2004), mountain guide
• Feroze Khan (1904-2005), Indian field hockey olympian
• Keizo Miura (1904-2006), Japanese skier and ski instructor
• Philip Rabinowitz, (1904-Living), South African sprinter.
• Ted Radcliffe (aka "Double Duty Radcliffe") (1902-2005)
• James Stillman Rockefeller (1902-2004), rowing, Olympic gold medal (see also under Business)
• Amos Alonzo Stagg (1862-1965), American football
• Leon Stukelj (1898-1999), olympian
• Rhys Thomas (1904-2004), Rugby Union

Centenarian - Miscellaneous

• Percy &Florence Arrowsmith, (1900-2005; 1904-Living), longest marriage for a living couple and the oldest aggregate age of a married couple (according to the Guinness Book of Records). After Percy Arrowsmith died, Guinness recognized Herbert (March 15, 1900 - December 27, 2005) and Magda (two weeks younger than Florence) Brown as oldest couple. However, Le Monde newspaper revealed that one couple in France was even older than the Arrowsmiths or Browns: André Debry (June 15, 1898-August 31, 2005) and Marguerite Pingaud (born October 10, 1904) were married on August 12, 1924 and celebrated their 81st wedding anniversary in August 2005 shortly before his death. John Rocchio of North Providence, Rhode Island (age 101) and his wife Emelia, 99, celebrated their 82nd wedding anniversary February 10, 2005 and were recognized by Guinness in late July.
• Joseph Henry Jarvis (1899-Living) and Annie Jarvis (1904-Living), second-longest marriage of a living couple, married since 1921.
• Indra Devi (1899-2002)
• Henri Dufaux (1879-1980), aviator
• Ida May Fuller (1874-1975), first U.S. citizen to receive a social security check
• Eleanor Lambert (1903-2003), U.S. fashion pioneer
• Thomas (1787-1893) and Elizabeth Morgan (1786-1891), Welsh couple, whose combined age for a married couple (209 years) is claimed to be a world record.
• Irene Wells Pennington (1898-2003), multimillionaire oil widow
• Connie Douglas Reeves (1901-2003), cowgirl
• Saadi (1184-1283/1291), Iranian poet
• Gladys Tantaquidgeon (1899-2005), Mohegan tribal matriarch
• Catherine Uhlmeyer (1893-2002), last survivor to remember, and Adella Wotherspoon (1903-2004), last survivor of, the General Slocum disaster of 1904
• Len Vale-Onslow (1900-2004), British motorcycle maker

Centenarian - Known exclusively for attaining high age

See also supercentenarian, longevity myths.

• Hilda Erickson (1859-1968), oldest surviving Utah pioneer
• Arthur E. Cook (1895-2005), oldest motorcycle rider ever
• Anne Samson (1891-2004), oldest nun ever documented
• Katherine Young (1901-2005), may be the oldest internet user
• Flossie Bennett (1902-Living), oldest bridesmade
• Harry Stevens (1881-1988), oldest groom ever

See also

• Supercentenarian
• Last Surviving Veteran
• Surviving Veterans of the First World War
• Longevity myths
• List of countries by centenarian population

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Centenarian", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki