The world’s oldest chinchilla ever was Bouncer, who was born on 1 July 1977 and owned by Jenny Ann Bowen (UK) of Great Barr, Birmingham, UK. Bouncer died on 3 October 2005, at an incredible age of 28 years, 94 days. The chinchilla was sold by Arthur T. Sweeney of Chinchilla Ranch, Nottingham on 29 May 1978, and can confirm the birth date. Mr Sweeney is a chinchilla specialist and mentioned that the average lifespan is 10-14 years.
Sixty-eight-year-old Carole King (b. 9 February 1942) and 62-year-old James Taylor (b. 12 March 1948, both USA) had a US Top 5 album in May 2010 with Live At The Troubadour.
The oldest cat living is Poppy, aged 24 as of 14 February 2014. Poppy lives with her owner, Jacqueline West (UK), in Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.
Gisel Weser (Germany) (b. 1 February 1921) is the oldest dancing teacher, having worked at Triebel-Hölzer (founded 1883), Lutherstadt Eisleben, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, since 1949. She became head of the school in 1968 and continues to teach.
The oldest monarch currently reigning is Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, the King of Saudi Arabia, who was born in August 1924 and became the oldest in the world on the 11 May 2007 aged 82 years 253 days, following the death of the previous holder, Malietoa Tanumafili II of Samoa. King Abdullah succeeded to the throne on 1 August 2005, following the death of his half-brother King Fahd.
Amongst the world’s oldest cultivated plants that are used primarily for products such as clothing and medicine is the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). It was first cultivated in China 5,000 years ago; indeed the earliest documented example is a 6,000 year-old piece of cloth, made from hemp fibre and discovered amongst ancient human habitat sites in Asia. Hemp fabrics dated to the 8th century BC have also been unearthed in Ankara, Turkey. The hemp culture of, mainly eastern Asia, saw the cannabis fibre being used
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In June 2006, researchers from Harvard University (USA) and Israel’s Bar-Ilan University reported the discovery of nine carbonised figs dated to 11,200-11,400 years old, in an early Neolithic village called Gilgal I, near Jericho, Israel. The researchers believe this particular variety could only have been cultivated with human intervention, making figs the oldest domesticated crop, and amongst the the first-known examples of agriculture. The researchers suggest the carbonised figs pre-date the cultivation of other domesticated crops such as wheat, barley and vegetables. However, evidence of
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The oldest species of plant cultivated and used for decoration is the rose (genus Rosa, family Rosaceae). Documents dated to AD 50 suggest that ancient Romans grew the flowers in vast plantations and local hothouses to ensure a year-round supply of medicinal extracts, cooking ingredients and ornamentation. These rose blooms were used to decorate buildings, furniture and people whilst petals were laid to create rose carpets and walkways. There is evidence dating back 5,000 years when the Chinese and Japanese created rose gardens, although it
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Robert Jarvis (b.14 November 1925, Canada) was still employed as a croupier at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, Ontario, Canada on 19 December 2004 making him the oldest croupier, aged 79 years 35 days.
In March 2009, a group of British pensioners having an average age of 57, the oldest being 83 years old, pleaded guilty to counterfeiting charges and are expecting jail sentences. The British Serious and Organised Crime Agency said that the gang ran the counterfeiting operation like a professional business having a number of sites in London and Glasgow, UK, each of which could produce a finished batch of notes worth £800 ($1,600) in half an hour. Officers were able to recover more than £4.4 million
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