Facts of life

N

NamelessHusker

Banned
Everyday, i will post an interesting fact. It's a way to learn something new and expand your mind and maybe, just maybe you can say to your friend "well did you know so and so was this and that" and stump them ;)

Here's the interesting fact of the day

[SIZE=14pt]Longest recorded lifespan[/SIZE]

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Jeanne Calment (February 21, 1875 – August 4, 1997) had the longest confirmed lifespan (122 years and 164 days) for any human being in history. Her lifespan has been thoroughly documented by scientific study; more records have been produced to verify her age than for any other similar case.

She married her second cousin Fernand Calment in 1896, and survived her only child (Yvonne, who died in 1934) and only grandchild (who died in 1963 in a motorcycle accident). In 1965, with no living heirs, Jeanne Calment signed a deal, common in France, to sell her condominium apartment "en viager" to lawyer François Raffray, then 47. Raffray agreed to pay a monthly sum until she passed away, an agreement sometimes called a "reverse mortgage". She was then 90, and the value of the apartment was equal to ten years of payments. Unfortunately for Raffray, not only did she survive more than thirty years, but he died first, in December 1995 at the age of 77. His wife had to continue the payments

 
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That's amazing. By the info given I guess she was born around 1882, 83. It's hard to believe that someone could live so long as to be alive during the industrial revolution up to now. Amazing..

 
I forgot to mention when she was born, i went ahead and included that fact for refrence (you were close though). She almost lived through 3 centuries

 
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[SIZE=14pt]Tallest Human[/SIZE]

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Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 – July 15, 1940) was and is the tallest human recorded in modern times. Wadlow reached 272 cm (8'11.1") in height and 490 pounds (222 kg) in weight before his death at the age of 22. His great size and his continued growth in adulthood were due to a tumor within his pituitary gland.

By the age of eight, he was 6 feet (182 cm) tall. At ten, he was 6'6" (198 cm) and 220 pounds (100 kg). At the age of 14, he became the world's tallest Boy Scout at the height of 7'4" (224 cm), averaging an annual growth of four additional inches per year since birth; at that time he wore size 25 shoes. At 16, Wadlow was 7 feet 10.5 inches (240 cm) tall and weighed 365 pounds (166 kg). At 17, he weighed nearly 400 pounds (180 kg) and was 8 feet 1.5 inches (248 cm) tall. By age 18, Wadlow had grown to be 8'4" (254 cm) and weigh 390 pounds (177 kg); his size 37AA shoes (about 19.3 inches or 49.0 cm), provided to him free of charge, cost US$100 a pair, or about US$1400 in present-day inflation-adjusted dollars. In 1936, after graduating from Alton High School, he enrolled in Shurtleff College with the intention of studying law. By 1937, Wadlow had exceeded all previous recorded human heights. At 19, he was 8'6" (260 cm) and weighed 435 pounds (197 kg). However, his size began to take its toll: he required leg braces to walk, and had little sensation in his legs and feet. At 21, he reached 8'8.5" (265 cm) tall. On his 22nd birthday, he was 491 pounds (223 kg) and 8'9.5" (268 cm) tall

At 12:40pm on July 15, 1940, he died in his sleep. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in upper Alton on July 19. His half-ton casket required a dozen pallbearers and eight other men to carry. On the day of his funeral, all city businesses were closed out of respect. Around 40,000 people attended his funeral that day.

 
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[SIZE=14pt]Shortest Man/Woman[/SIZE]

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Gul Mohammed (February 15, 1957 – October 1997) of Delhi, India is the shortest man ever verifiably recorded. On 19 July 1990, he was examined by Ram Manohar Hospital, New Delhi, India and he stood 22 1/2 inches tall and weighed 37 and one half pounds.

Gul Mohammed suffered from chronic obstructive airway disease. He had been hospitalized several times before. In the last five months he had required an oxygen mask to keep his blood oxygen level at normal.

"Before his illness Gul Mohammed had tried to run a roadside candy and biscuit stall, but he was often robbed because of his size. He survived on financial help from friends and voluntary organizations

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Lucia Zarate, the Puppet-woman

Lucia Zarate was the smallest woman ever recorded. At her birth in 1864 in Mexico, she weighed only eight ounces and was seven inches long. By adulthood she was less than 50 cm tall and weighed less than 2.26 kg, less than a cat.

Unlike dwarves, she was normal in every other way, and was described as bright and animated company. She first came to the US at twelve years old and was one of the highest-paid midgets of all time. She made twenty dollars an hour.

Lucia tragically died in 1890 at 26 from cold when the train she was on became stalled in the Rocky Mountains during a heavy snowstorm

 
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These are kinda disturbing but interesting, thanks nameless!
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Disturbing how?
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I know what he means but disturbing might not be the word I would use. They give me the feeling you would get if you were to visit PT Barnum's museum. Kind of strange, looking on in wonderment, bazaar...

 
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