Georgia native, Besse Cooper, according to the Guiness World Records is the world’s oldest person as she celebrated her 116th birthday on Sunday. Cooper, who was born in 1896 becomes the eighth and only fourth American to reach this age.
Still, Cooper has seven more years to go to become the oldest person ever fully authenticated by Guinness. Jeanne Louis Calment from France lived to be 122 years and 164 days old before dying on Aug. 4, 1997, according to a Guinness spokesperson.
On her big day, Cooper was presented with a plaque by Guinness World Records senior consultant of gerontology Robert Young during her birthday festivities at her nursing home in Monroe, Ga. Her secret to longevity is simple.
“I mind my own business,’’ she said in a Guinness news release. “And I don’t eat junk food.’’
