World's Oldest Person Celebrates Birthday And Is Ready For Next One

Another year has passed, and with it, another candle has been added to Kane Tanaka's birthday cake.

Many of us will have ambitious resolutions heading into 2022, but Kane has seen more new years than anyone else on this planet, and is presumably not naive enough to bother at this stage.

Kane was born on 2 January 1903, six months before English novelist George Orwell.

The mathematicians among you will have figured out this meant her latest birthday bash yesterday (Sunday 2 January) was her 119th.

She spent it at the nursing home where she resides in Fukuoka prefecture, south-west Japan - and she's already got her sights on the big 1-20, according to her family members.

Eiji, her 62-year-old grandson, told Kyodo news agency: "I would like to personally congratulate her soon.

"I hope she remains healthy and has fun everyday as she grows older."

The seventh of nine siblings, Kane married when she was 19 and ran a noodle shop after her husband and eldest son went to fight in the Second Sino-Japanese War, that started in 1937.

She was recognised by the Guinness World Records as the oldest living person in March 2019, going on to achieve an all-time Japanese age record when she reached 117 years and 261 days in September 2020.

She's still got a few years to go though before becoming the oldest person ever, with the record set by Jeanne Louise Calment from France, who died at the age of 122 years and 164 days old.

As for Kane's secret, she enjoys spending her days solving puzzles, eating chocolate and drinking fizzy drinks.

So mental stimulation and errr, loads of sugar, would appear to be the key.

Meanwhile, the world's tallest person has travelled to Russia in search of a wife.

Sultan Kösen, a Turkish farmer of Kurdish descent, stands at 8ft 3ins tall, which is 251cms.

This makes him the tallest person on the planet, and following a recent divorce, the 39-year-old is now the tallest single person on the planet.

Sultan jetted out to Moscow last month and is confident he'll come back from Russia with love.

Explaining why he is searching the nation for his bride, he said he heard that Russian women possess incredible beauty and a loving soul; clearly, he's not too bothered about learning from his mistakes though, as Russian women typically speak Russian, not Turkish.

Speaking on TV show Let Them Speak on TV1 on 20 December, he said: "It should be easy. I can provide well and do not need money.

"I would like to take my wife back to Turkey.

"I live in a historical place, in the southeast, but quite far from the sea. I heard that Russian women love hot, polite men. It should be easy."

Featured Image Credit: Twitter/@tanakakane0102

Topics: World News, Guinness World Record

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey