Oldest living person: Dina Manfredini breaks Guinness world record (VIDEO)
JOHNSON, IA, USA -- At 115 years of age, Dina Manfredini of Johnston, Iowa, became the oldest person in the world after the death of Besse Cooper, setting the new world record for the Oldest living person,
according to the World Record Academy: www.worldrecordacademy.com/. Photo: Dina Manfredini, who is 115 years old and lives in Johnston, Iowa, is now the oldest person in the world. Photo: Lisa Fernandez (enlarge photo)
The Guinness world record for the oldest yoga teacher was set by Bernice Mary Bates (USA, b. 30 June 1920) who remains an active yoga teacher at the age of 91 years.
Guinness World Records also recognized the Oldest graduate: Allan Stewart (Australia, b. 7 March 1915) who received a Bachelor of Laws degree aged 91 years 214 days, when he graduated from the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia.
Guinness World Records declared Besse Cooper of Georgia the oldest living person in January, but she passed away Tuesday at the age of 116.
Manfredini was the second oldest person on record, so she will now take the title.
Manfredini was born in Italy on April 4th, 1897. She came to the U.S. with her husband, Riccardo in 1920.
After Riccardo was injured on the job as a miner in Des Moines, she earned money by cracking eggs in a food processing plant and working on an assembly line filling shells with gunpowder during the war. She always cleaned houses on the side.
"I'm old, old lady, but I work. Work hard. I like work," she said.
They raised four children, before Riccardo died in 1965.
Manfredini moved into a nursing home when she was 110 years old. Manfredini currently lives at the Bishop Drumm Retirement Center in Johnston, just north of Des Moines.
A day after she inherited the "oldest" mantle, her family declined any interviews, to protect her privacy.
Guinness World Records also posted on its website that Dina Manfredini of Johnston has inherited the title after Bessie Cooper of Georgia died. Cooper was 116.
