# The last person who was alive in the 19th century just died **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537 "2017-04-16T01:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/81 "2017-04-24T16:42:48Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > The impression is got, that people have been arguing about centuries’ limits, year zero, etc., since forever – with no consensus, and few folk convinced into changing their views. There _is_ an absolute consensus. This is an issue with a right and a wrong. It’s like round Earth vs. flat Earth. Sure you can find flat Earthers, but you don’t treat anyone so absolutely wrong as merely another viewpoint. When someone posts something claiming a flat Earth, they will get shouted down as wrong. Ditto anyone who thinks enumerated centuries start on the 100s. The latter error is even worse in way: it only requires a tiny bit of a Math to understand. No measurements or anything. One problem with the US media in recent years is the cultivating of the notion that both sides of an issue are “equal”. Nope. Sometimes there’s a right and a wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/82 "2017-04-24T23:58:32Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > There _is_ an absolute consensus. This is an issue with a right and a wrong. It’s like round Earth vs. flat Earth. Sure you can find flat Earthers, but you don’t treat anyone so absolutely wrong as merely another viewpoint. When someone posts something claiming a flat Earth, they will get shouted down as wrong. Ditto anyone who thinks enumerated centuries start on the 100s. So that would be most of the planet getting shouted down as wrong for celebrating the start of the 21st century on January 1, 2000? Didn’t think so. There were epic parties all over the world at the time and the people saying “Well, Actually…” were in the minority. There weren’t epic parties (at least on the same scale) on January 1, 2001. Which tells us that the majority of people - including me - think centuries start on the 00 year. This is a totally different kettle of fish to whether or not the Earth is flat, because there’s no disagreement on what “flat” is or what “curved” is - and it’s easy to see that the Earth is round because the horizon exists. > [@](#): > > One problem with the US media in recent years is the cultivating of the notion that both sides of an issue are “equal”. Nope. Sometimes there’s a right and a wrong. That observation is true, but this isn’t one of those times. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/83 "2017-04-25T05:33:39Z")
Yes it is. OTOH, NEWSFLASH! **kaylasdad99** Sharing Planet With People Who are Wrong About Things! Film at 11. Actually, film never. It’s still true, but “film at 11” implies broadcast news, which is not journalism. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/84 "2017-04-25T06:01:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Yes it is. OTOH, > > NEWSFLASH! **kaylasdad99** Sharing Planet With People Who are Wrong About Things! Film at 11. > > Actually, film never. It’s still true, but “film at 11” implies broadcast news, which is not journalism. From my perspective, it’s **Martini Enfield** Sharing Planet With People Who Are Wrong About Things. I think this “The century starts on xx01 year” stuff is one of those “Almost only on the SDMB”-type things, like weirdoes insisting Sunday is the first day of the week and not Monday. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/85 "2017-04-25T12:59:25Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > So that would be most of the planet getting shouted down as wrong for celebrating the start of the 21st century on January 1, 2000? Didn’t think so. There were epic parties all over the world at the time and the people saying “Well, Actually…” were in the minority. 1. There’s nothing wrong with celebrating a round number rollover. So the 2000s started. Yay! 2. Math isn’t decided by majority vote. Like the old Indiana legislature (almost) voting on setting the value of Pi, popular opinion doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/86 "2017-04-25T17:31:59Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > like weirdoes insisting Sunday is the first day of the week and not Monday. Weirdos apparently include most calendar makers. > [@](#): > > “Almost only on the SDMB”-type things Yet, for some reason known only to yourself, you choose to argue on behalf of ignorance here. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/87 "2017-04-25T20:19:20Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > I think this “The century starts on xx01 year” stuff is one of those “Almost only on the SDMB”-type things, like weirdoes insisting Sunday is the first day of the week and not Monday. > [@Colibri](#): > > Weirdos apparently include most calendar makers. In the US. IIRC calendars in other countries have a tendency to start on Monday, and I have calendar software that allows me to customize my week view to start on any day that suits my needs. While in school and working retail, I used Saturday as my start day, since that lined up with the schedule issued by my workplace. So much of this debate is “my arbitrary definition of this label is right, yours is wrong”, on something that just isn’t that absolute. Face it, the definition of when a week or century starts isn’t exactly mathematical or physical law. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/88 "2017-04-25T23:19:37Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Yet, for some reason known only to yourself, you choose to argue on behalf of ignorance here. It’s not “arguing on behalf of ignorance”, **Colibri**. Having a reasonable view which differs from yours doesn’t make one “ignorant”. We’re not talking about patent nonsense like “vaccines cause autism” or “Lizard People control the world”, but around arbitrary things like “the starting point for calendars”. And one of the reasons I’m here is I don’t get to hear a lot of alternative viewpoints from sensible people in my everyday life. It’s interesting to hear what other people think and why they think that, even if I disagree with them. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/89 "2017-04-26T13:11:18Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > So much of this debate is “my arbitrary definition of this label is right, yours is wrong”, on something that just isn’t that absolute. Face it, the definition of when a week or century starts isn’t exactly mathematical or physical law. Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ella Fitzgerald. So that’s a century right there. So centuries, millenia, etc. start/end all over the place. Unless you have a particular designation or you get the length of the period wrong. E.g., if you state that the first century after the Birth of Ella ran from April 25, 1917 to October 31, 2130 you are doubly wrong. 19th century _is_ such a particular designation. So it has one meaning and one meaning alone. Arguing _for_ ambiguity seems quite odd. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2017, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/90 "2017-04-26T13:42:19Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ella Fitzgerald. So that’s a century right there. > > So centuries, millenia, etc. start/end all over the place. > > Unless you have a particular designation… [I wish someone had said that!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20148620&postcount=72)😛 ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/91 "2017-09-17T05:27:02Z")
And now there is only one > **[List of Japanese supercentenarians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabi_Tajima)** > > Japanese supercentenarians are citizens, residents or emigrants from Japan who have attained or surpassed the age of 110 years. As of January 2015\[update\], the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) had validated the longevity claims of 263 Japanese supercentenarians, most of whom are women. As of 4 April 2023, it lists the oldest living Japanese person as Fusa Tatsumi (born in Ōsaka on 25 April 1907), aged 115 years, 344 days. The oldest verified Japanese and Asian person ever is Kane Tanaka (19 .m... ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/92 "2017-09-17T13:38:05Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What an odd way to use the word “definition”… Read _Frindle_ by Andrew Clements. It might be a kids’ book, but it is a really entertaining look at how words are made. I read it every year to my classes. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/93 "2018-04-22T19:06:46Z")
Waking the zombie to say the OP is now true: Nabi Tajima, born August 4, 1900, just died at 117. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/94 "2018-04-22T20:50:40Z")
After reading this thread, which I missed the first time around, I agree with Greg Charles. I’ve always known the fact that the century ends with the “00” year. My grandfather was born, just barely, in the 19th century, in October of 1900. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/95 "2018-04-22T21:08:19Z")
The passage of time really is one of the most frightening things when you think about it. The last person alive during the 1800’s is gone this year. Meanwhile, there is a whole generation of people graduating high school this year who have never known the 1900’s. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/96 "2018-04-22T22:02:16Z")
It’s funny how stubborn people are over the year the century starts and ends. 1900 is what the century was _named_ after. Anyway, a few people have mentioned having grandparents who were born in the 19th Century. I was going to add the story of President John Tyler, born in 1790 and took office in 1841, after William Henry Harrison died. He has two living _grand_children. Not great-great-great-grandchildren. Their dad was Tyler’s son. Plus, Tyler died when he was 71! Tyler was 63 when his second wife had a child and that son was 71 and then 75 when _his_ second wife had two children. Both are still alive today. > **[President John Tyler's Grandson Is Still Alive](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/29842/president-john-tylers-grandsons-are-still-alive)** > > John Tyler was born in 1790. He took office in 1841, after William Henry Harrison died. And he has one living grandchild. ---
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537/97 "2018-04-23T04:30:56Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Not to piss on the thread title, but the newest oldest person is a Jamaican lady named Voilet Brown that was born on March, 10 1900. That is still technically the the 19th century as well. Emma Morano was the last person living person born _in the 1800’s_ but 117 isn’t bad no matter how you slice it. > > [Jamaican centenarian now oldest person in the world | News | Jamaica Gleaner](http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170415/jamaican-centenarian-now-oldest-person-world) > > Now that we have that out of the way, I knew my great-grandmother who was born in 1883 and I am only 43 myself. It was just a fluke of having my grandfather in her mid-forties. It is a little freaky to think that I knew a grandparent who was practically middle-aged for the time when the Titanic sank and WWI broke out. My maternal grandfather was born in 1882, and yes he was my grandfather, NOT great grandfather. And dig this, I’m only 31. He had my mom when he was in his 60s. I never met him as he died in 1962. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-last-person-who-was-alive-in-the-19th-century-just-died/784537.md?page=4)