Longevity myths are traditions about long-lived people, either as individuals or groups of people, and practices that have been believed to confer longevity, but for which scientific evidence does not support the ages claimed or the reasons for the claims. While literal interpretations of such myths may appear to indicate extraordinarily long lifespans, many scholars believe such figures may be the result of incorrect translation of numbering systems through various languages coupled by the cultural and/or symbolic significance of certain numbers.
Shigechiyo Izumi was a Japanese centenarian who was titled the oldest living person after the death of Niwa Kawamoto on 16 November 1976, also from Japan. His case was initially verified by Guinness World Records, who titled him the oldest man ever, but Guinness later withdrew their verification and in the Guinness World Records Book 2012 Christian Mortensen is titled "the oldest verified man ever" and Izumi is not mentioned.
Pregnancy over age 50 has, over recent years, become possible for more women, and more easily achieved for many, due to recent advances in assisted reproductive technology, in particular egg donation. Typically, a woman's fecundity ends with menopause, which, by definition, is 12 consecutive months without having had any menstrual flow at all. During perimenopause, the menstrual cycle and the periods become irregular and eventually stop altogether, but even when periods are still regular, the egg quality of women in their forties is lower than in younger women, making the likelihood of conceiving a healthy baby also reduced, particularly after age 42. It is important to note that the female biological clock can vary greatly from woman to woman. A woman's individual level of fertility can be tested through a variety of methods.
Habib Miyan born as Rahim Khan, of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India, was an Indian man who claimed to have lived to 138 years of age, though this claim is disputed. He holds the Guinness World record for the Longest retirement pension. The Limca Book of Records lists him as the oldest man of Jaipur, describing him in its 2005 edition as "over 120 years", but since he had no birth certificate Guinness did not recognise his claim to be the world's oldest person and the Gerontology Research Group accepted Edna Parker to be the world's oldest person at the time, at 115 years old.
Longevity claims are unsubstantiated cases of asserted human longevity. Those asserting lifespans of 110 years or more are referred to as supercentenarians. Many have either no official verification or are backed only by partial evidence. Cases where longevity has been fully verified, according to modern standards of longevity research, are reflected in an established list of supercentenarians based on the work of organizations such as the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) or Guinness World Records. This article lists living claims greater than that of the oldest person whose age has been independently verified, Kane Tanaka at 116 years, 163 days, and deceased claims greater than that of the oldest person ever whose age has been verified, namely Jeanne Calment who died at the age of 122 years, 164 days. The upper limit for both lists is 130 years.
This is a list of tables of the oldest people in the world in ordinal ranks. To avoid including false or unconfirmed claims of old age, names here are restricted to those people whose ages have been validated by an international body that specifically deals in longevity research, such as the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) or Guinness World Records (GWR), and others who have otherwise been reliably sourced.
Edna Ruth Parker was an American supercentenarian who, for fifteen months, was recognized as the oldest person in the world. She featured in two documentaries and was included in a Boston University DNA database of supercentenarians.
Radhakant Nayak is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress party. He is a Member of the Parliament of India representing Orissa in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. Radhakant Nayak, a 1962 batch IAS officer. Nayak is also connected with the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and is one of the most high-profile Christians in Orissa
Religious violence in Odisha consists of civil unrest and riots in the remote forest region surrounding the Kandhamal district in the western parts of the Indian state of Odisha.
María del Carmen Bousada de Lara was a Spanish woman who gained worldwide attention when at the age of 66, she became the world's oldest mother on December 29 or 30, 2006 when she gave birth to twins. She later became an outspoken advocate for the rights of older mothers and a subject of considerable controversy.
Emma Martina Luigia MoranoOMRI was an Italian supercentenarian who, before her death at the age of 117 years and 137 days, was the world's oldest living person whose age had been verified, and the last living person to have been verified as being born in the 1800s. She remains the oldest Italian person ever and the second-oldest European person ever behind Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment.
Luo Meizhen was a Chinese claimant for the world's oldest person. Her claim was supported by a report from the Gerontological Society of China (GSC) but has not gained widespread acceptance due to the lack of reliable birth records in Guangxi at the time of her birth.
Ramjit Raghav is an Indian former wrestler and farmer who has been claimed by various news media as the world's oldest father. He resided in southern India with his wife. He claimed to have had his first child with his wife at age 94. He fathered a second child at age 96. A vegetarian who claims to engage in sexual intercourse around three times a day, Raghav was chosen to be an ambassador for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in November 2012.
Leandra Becerra Lumbreras was a purported Mexican revolutionary and supercentenarian who claimed to have been born August 31, 1887 which would have made her the longest living person in history.
