Record-breaking Pennsylvania Lady became the second oldest person ever to have lived, and the oldest American of all time.
When Sarah Knauss passed away in 1999, she was a staggering 119 years and 97 days old, a human lifespan that stands as the second longest that can be verified. Nearly ten years on, she remains the oldest American ever to have lived.
Amazing Longevity
Mrs. Knauss was born Sarah DeRemer Clark on 24th September 1880 in a small mining town called Hollywood, in the state of Pennsylvania. The town no longer exists. She moved to Allentown, and in 1901 at the age of 21 she married Abraham Lincoln Knauss, a Republican politician and well known local political figure. She raised a family, and later on worked in insurance.
She retired and later moved into a nursing home. At the time of her death, she had a 96 year old daughter, Kathryn, making them one of the oldest living parent and child pairings ever known. Kathryn passed away in 2005 at the age of 102.
Age Records
At the age of 116 years, she was recognised as America’s oldest person, but it was not until the following year that she was recognised as the Oldest Person in the World, following the death of the 122 year old French woman, Jeanne Calment. At 117, Sarah Knauss remains the oldest person ever to inherit that title. She celebrated her 118th and 119th birthdays as the oldest known person on the planet, and became the second oldest person whose age can be verified beyond doubt, according to the Gerontology Research Group who study the world’s oldest people.
A Near Miss
Mrs Knauss’ death on December 30th 1999 is one of the most remarkable ‘near misses’ in the field of longevity. She passed away just 30 hours before the beginning of the year 2000, and so missed out on living in three different centuries and in two millennia. Although some may argue that the century did not begin officially until the end of the year 2000 itself, having lived for 119 years the timing of her passing remains somewhat poignant.
The Oldest Americans
Mrs. Knauss remains the oldest person ever verified in the USA. She is followed by Lucy Hannah who died in 1993 at the age of 117 years and 248 days. Along with French woman Jeanne Calment, these women make up the three oldest human beings whose age has been verified beyond doubt. The oldest man is Christian Mortensen who was born in Denmark but moved to the USA while very young, and who died in 1998 at the age of 115 years and 252 days.
Today the oldest living person is American woman Edna Parker who is close to celebrating her 115th birthday, while Japan’s Tomoji Tanabe is the oldest man at the age of 112.
The Oldest World War One Veteran
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