# A Person Born in the 19th Century Is Still With Us **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 26, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932 "2012-10-26T13:58:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/21 "2012-10-27T23:22:38Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Heh, sorry. I just transposed the last two numbers of either the end of the Civil War or her birthdate. But weep away if it makes you feel good about yourself. > > \*eta: or something. I was actually looking at the two dates and screwed it up somehow. I’m Canadian, so the ACW came up less than you might think in school. Was it Einstein who proved that time slows down at extremely high latitudes? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/22 "2012-10-28T13:19:54Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Am I the only one that looks for what these supercentenarians attribute their longevity to hoping that someday it’ll be french fries, whiskey and sex? I forget where I read it, but an article said that these people who live an enormous life span don’t smoke less, eat healthier, drink less, exercise more, or anything of the like different that the average population. It’s something genetic that makes them immune from cancer, heart disease, or dementia that kills everyone else in their 70s-90s. They literally just live until their bodies wear out. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/23 "2012-10-28T13:27:02Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I’m Canadian, so the ACW came up less than you might think in school. [I bet you filled that time with glorious tales of how brightly the White House burned and just how polite all of you were in allowing us to preserve some of the art before torching the place.](http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=340) Or you learned about something relevant to your own national history like beavers or _Je me souviens_ something or other or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/24 "2012-10-28T15:12:38Z")
Yes, up here the war of 1812 is called “World War 0” and we kicked your butt. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/25 "2012-10-28T15:35:07Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > _“She reputedly attributes her longevity to “minding her own business” and avoiding junk food.”_ > > That’s pretty fucking funny I love it. Of course I also love junk food, so I’m screwed. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/26 "2012-10-28T17:56:33Z")
Do any of these supercentarians have any great insights in the meaning of life? I’m guessing :“no”. Reminds me of a story I read in a long-ago Wall Street Journal: A cub reporter was interviewing a 100 year old man (he was a veteran of the Spanish-American War). The reported thought-man-what stories this guy can tell! Instead, all the old geezer wanted to talk about was how he always saved string (he had a huge string ball). ---
**Author:** ![meek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@meek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meek)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/27 "2012-10-28T18:28:13Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Do any of these supercentarians have any great insights in the meaning of life?.. I am reminded of [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=55667) zombie thread…(wayyyyy back when my username was “Smug.”) . ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/28 "2012-10-28T18:49:37Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Heh, sorry. I just transposed the last two numbers of either the end of the Civil War or her birthdate. But weep away if it makes you feel good about yourself. > > \*eta: or something. I was actually looking at the two dates and screwed it up somehow. I’m Canadian, so the ACW came up less than you might think in school. Heh. I thought that I screwed up my math and you were making fun of me. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/29 "2012-10-28T19:59:29Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Was it Einstein who proved that time slows down at extremely high latitudes? It just seems that way, with those long winters and not much to do.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/30 "2015-06-20T22:09:39Z")
And now there is only 2 left from the 19th century. (3 if you count 1900) ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/31 "2015-06-21T06:54:51Z")
Threads like this remind me of my uncle {my mother’s brother}who was born in June {he would have been 116 next Tuesday} 1899 who was always a bit miffed over my father’s birthdate {May 1900} and the fact that they were born in different centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932/32 "2015-06-21T13:51:09Z")
> [@meek](#): > > I am reminded of [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=55667) zombie thread…(wayyyyy back when my username was “Smug.”) > . Hey, now you’ve got a much better chance of inheriting the earth. Smugness doesn’t do it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-person-born-in-the-19th-century-is-still-with-us/638932.md?page=1)