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To be 115 when the best life expectancy rates in history hover around 78 (for a person born in 2009!) is no small feat. Besse Cooper, currently the world’s oldest person, just celebrated her 115th birthday in Georgia state. It was a smallish affair, with about 15-20 friends and family.
Her daughter-in-law Edith Cooper said the group gathered at a Monroe nursing home, where Besse Cooper enjoyed two small slivers of her birthday cake and nodded with approval as musician Mike Cronic sang “Tennessee Waltz.”
Cooper was born in Tennessee and moved to Georgia during World War I to find work as a teacher. She has 12 grandchildren and more than a dozen great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Her husband, Luther, died in 1963.
Cooper was declared the world’s oldest in January. In May, Guinness learned that Maria Gomes Valentin of Brazil was 48 days older. Valentin died June 21.
Link|Image: AP Photo/David Goldman
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How fast can you type? Well, Hank Torres, who lost the use of his hands after a hang-gliding accident, just set the Guinness World Record for hands-free typing:
Hank typed the following phrase — "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human." — in 83.09 seconds last Friday at the Assistive Technology Industry Association Conference in Orlando, Fla.
Hank had a nice set-up to help achieve his record. In fact, we are learning about this because, along with a head-tracking system called TrackerPro and a PC, Hank uses the Swype software keyboard found on many Android phones. (The maker of TrackerPro, AbleNet, now includes the Swype keyboard in the software bundle.)
Not only is it amazing what Hank can do with the keyboard, it’s a pretty amazing demonstration of the keyboard’s functionality itself. Just watch this video and tell me you’re not impressed with him and with the software keyboard. You can’t.
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Surely some daring Neatoramanaut can beat this record:
ARLINGTON, Texas, May 11 (UPI) — A Texas body modification enthusiast said he broke a Guinness World Record by receiving 1,197 piercings in a single day.
Jeremy Stroud said Arlington body modification artist Tyson Turk spent about five hours May 2 inserting 800 needles into his back, 300 in his right arm, 50 in his leg and about 20 in his left arm, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported Monday.
Image by flickr user sean dreilinger used via Creative Commons license
Update 5/13/09 by Alex: if you can stand the loud music, here’s the video clip: Link [YouTube]
