Who is the oldest person ever

Kane Tanaka, born in 1903, smiles as a nursing home celebrates three days after her 117th birthday in Fukuoka, Japan, on Jan. 5, 2020.

Although she didn't quite make it to her goal of 120 years old, Kane Tanaka still lived long enough to become the world's oldest person — a title she held for the past three years, and attributed to family, sleep, hope and faith.

Tanaka died last week at 119, Japanese authorities announced. Tanaka, who had been living at nursing home in Fukuoka, died on Tuesday at a hospital.

According to Guinness World Records, Tanaka was born prematurely on Jan. 2, 1903 — the same year the Wright brothers brought powered flight to the world. She was the seventh child in her family.

【大快挙】119歳到達🎉

無事に119歳を迎えることができました！
サラ・ナウスさん以来22年ぶりの119歳到達です🎊

最新のカ子さんの写真です📸
12月に親戚が会いに行った時のものです。

たくさんの方々に支えられてここまでくることが出来ました🙌
これからも楽しく明るく元気に過ごしてほしいです😊 pic.twitter.com/K38jXDTIQ3

— 田中カ子 (@tanakakane0102) January 1, 2022

When she was 19, she married Hideo Tanaka, and helped run a family business selling sticky rice, udon, and the Japanese dessert zenzai.

She had four children and adopted a fifth.

Tanaka loved chocolate and soda. During a 2019 presentation ceremony to celebrate her being the oldest person alive, she was given a box of chocolates — which she immediately opened and began devouring.

Tanaka was tapped to carry the Olympic torch during as part of the torch relay leading up to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, but her relatives deemed it too risky given COVID-19.

Earlier this month, Tanaka surpassed Sarah Knauss of the U.S. to become the second-longest lived person in recorded history. Jeanne Louise Calment, a French woman who died in 1997, remains the longest-lived person at 122 years and 164 days.

The oldest currently living person is now said to be Lucile Randon, a 118-year-old French nun. Randon is also the oldest known survivor of COVID-19.

A Venezuelan man has been recorded by the Guinness World Records as the world's oldest living man. 

As of 17 May 2022, Juan Vincente Mora is a record-breaking 112 years and 355 days old, with his 113th birthday fast approaching. 

Born in the small town of El Cobre on 27 May in 1909, Mora says his secret to living a long life is "the love of God, the love of family and that we must get up early to work." He also starts every day with a cup of coffee and spends meal times with his family. 

Mora is a devout Catholic and believes that friends and family are his greatest life companions. He has 41 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren. 

After meeting at a weekly Catholic mass, Mora married Ediofina del Rosario García in 1937. They had eleven children over their 60-year partnership. 

One of the toughest moments of his life, Mora says, was when Ediofina passed away in 1997. He has spent the last two decades without her. 

Throughout his life, Mora witnessed the invention of many staples of the modern world, including television and the internet, when he was 51 years old, he had his photograph taken for the first time - it was in black and white. 

Mora comes from a long line of arable farmers who grew sugar cane and coffee. He started working the fields with his dad and brother at the age of five. 

Mora's farming career was long and successful, he sold his last piece of land at the age of 104 - some 99 years after he started working to help his family. 

From the age of 34, he also worked as a sheriff, solving disputes between people in the local community. 

In 2019, Mora celebrated his 110th birthday, becoming the first male supercentenarian from Venezuela. There are currently 1,500 supercentenarians alive in the world today. 

Mora received the record-breaking title after Saturnino de la Fuente Garcia passed away on January 18h, 2022 at 112 years and 341 days. He was born in Spain in 1909. 

The oldest person to have ever lived was Frenchwoman Jeanne Louise Calment who lived for 122 years and 164 days.

Calment, who smoked until she was 117 and ate large amounts of chocolate every week, was born 21 February 1875 and died 4 August 1997.

A Japanese woman who was the world's oldest living person and also the second oldest person on record died on April 19, just nine days after becoming the second oldest person who ever lived.

Kane Tanaka from the southwestern Fukuoka region of Japan was born on January 2, 1903, 11 months before the Wright Brothers perform the first controlled flight in an airplane, and died on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at 119 years and 107 days old.

Tanaka had previously said that her large family, sleeping well, always being positive and hopeful, eating good food, and practicing mathematics to develop her brain helped her live so long. She was also a fan of waking early, with a daily routine beginning at 6 am every day.

The death of the supercentenarian was announced on Monday by a city official in Fukuoka, southern Japan, who confirmed that Ms. Tanaka died at a hospital as a result of old age, The Wall Street Journal reported.

On April 10 Tanaka became the second old person to have ever lived, surpassing U.S. citizen Sarah Knauss's final age of 119 years and 97 days. The oldest verified person to have lived is Jeanne Calment of France, who lived to the age of 122 years and 164 days. Calment died in 1997.

Anoma van der Veere, a researcher within the Leiden Asia Centre at Leiden University, commented on the passing of Tanaka on Twitter: "Kane Tanaka, the oldest living person passed away at 119 years and 107 days old, [it] was just announced," he wrote.

"She passed a few days ago, but just imagine surviving two world wars and two global pandemics to become the oldest person on the planet."

Eiji Tanaka told Japan's NHK news organization that his grandmother's death was "sudden." Tanaka, who was living in a nursing home, was in relatively good health until recently enjoying board games and solving maths problems, indulging in soda and chocolate.

Guinness World Records recognized Tanaka as the world's oldest living person in March 2019, after the death of Chiyo Miyako at 117 on 22 July 2018. Since surpassing the final age of Nabi Tajimain September 2020, Tanaka has held the record as the longest-lived Japanese person of all time whose age has been validated by Guinness World Records.

When Guinness World Records recognized Tanaka as the oldest person alive in 2019, she was asked what moment of her life made her happiest, to which she responded: "Now."

In January 2022, Tanaka became just the third person on record to have survived until they were 119. According to Tanaka's family the supercentenarian aimed to live until she was 120.

In a statement issued on Monday Governor of Fukuoka Prefecture Seitaro Hattori said: "I was looking forward to seeing Kane-san on this year's Respect for the Aged Day [a national holiday in September] and celebrating together with her favorite soda and chocolate.

"I am extremely saddened by the news."

The world's oldest living person is now Lucile Randon of France who was born in February 1904 and is 118 years old.