The oldest person to be awarded a doctorate is Emeritus Professor Dr Heinz Wenderoth (Germany), who was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science by the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University of Hannover on 29 September 2008 at the age of 97 years 8 months 18 days. The subject of Dr Wenderoth’s doctoral dissertation was “Cell Biological Studies in the Morphology and Physiology of primitive marine Placozoons Trichoplax Adhaerens”. Dr Heinz Wenderoth was born on 11 January 1911.
The oldest dj is Ruth Flowers (UK), who played over 38 sets including festivals and clubs over the world in 2010, when she claimed to be 69. Her stage name is Mamy Rock.
‘The Old Gentleman of Raahe’, at the Museum of Raahe, Raahe, Finland, is believed to be the oldest surviving diving suit in the world. Dating from sometime in the eighteenth century, it was donated to the museum by Captain Johan Leufstadius (1795-1867), a Finnish shipowner and mariner. A replica of the suit, made from stitched calfskin, was successfully tested in 1988.
On 15 December 2001, Indian geologist Chirananda De announced his discovery of the fossilised imprints of raindrops in ancient rocks in the lower Vindhyan range, Madhya Pradesh state, India. These rocks prove that rain fell on Earth at least 1.6 billion years ago.
The oldest fossilised embryos date back around 500 million years. Around 100 embryos, of Markuelia hunanensis – an extinct species of worm, were discovered in Hunan, southern China by a team from Bristol University, Bristol, UK, and Beijing University, Beijing, China. Their results were announced in the journal Nature in January 2004.
In November 2003 a team of scientists from the University of Bonn, Germany, announced their discovery of a 17 million-year-old fossilised rodent burrow containing more than 1,200 fossilised nuts. The animal responsible was probably a hamster or a squirrel. The team was led by Dr Carole Gee (Germany) and the work was published in the journal Palaeontology.
The oldest examples of footwear which have been accurately dated directly from the shoes themselves are ‘Fort Rock’ type sandals, ten of which have been carbon-dated to ages between 9,300 – 10,500 years old. These distinctive shoes are made of sagebrush, and likely to have been worn by native North Americans. The first of these sandals were discovered by archaeologist, Luther Cressman (USA) of the University of Oregon in Fort Rock Cave, Oregon, USA in 1938, where parts of over 100 sandals were identified. Since
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The oldest regular football player is Tércio Mariano de Rezende (Brazil, b. 31 December 1921) aged 88 years old. He regularly plays in the regional Championship as right wing for Goiandira Esporte Clube in Goiandira, Goiás, Brazil. He is registered with Catalao Levindo da Fonseca Soccer League.
The oldest first time grandmother is Marianne Wallenberg (b. 07 Feb 1913, Germany) who was 95 years old when her first grandson Joshua Fritz Wallenberg (Canada) was born at Sinai Hospital, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 29 April 2008. Marianne became the first time grandmother when her son James and his wife Jacqueline gave birth to twins Joshua Fritz Wallenberg and Karina Diana Wallenberg.
The oldest female racing driver is Jeannie Reiman ( b. New Zealand, 19 April 1913) who competed in the Canadian Vintage Modified’s 10 lap Powder Puff race at Sunset Speedway in Stroud, Ontario, Canada, on 3 August 2003, aged 90 years 106 days.