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Oldest regular blood donor

Maurice Creswick (South Africa, b. 25 April 1926) began donating blood on his 18th birthday in 1944. On 12 May 2010 Mr Creswick donated his 380th unit (171 litres; 37.6 gal; 45 US gal) of whole blood aged 84 years 17 days and continues to do so regularly.

Oldest referee at the football (soccer) FIFA World Cup finals

The oldest referee to officiate a FIFA World Cup finals match is George Reader (UK) who was 53 years 236 days old when he refereed the final game of the 1950 World Cup at the Maracana stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 16 July 1950. The match was won by Uruguay who beat the hosts Brazil 2-­1 in front of crowd estimated at 200,000 (although officially recognized by Fifa as 174,000) to go top of the final group and win the World Cup for the Continue reading →

Oldest Queen, British

The oldest British Queen is Queen Elizabeth II (UK, b. 21 April 1926), who took the record from her great, great grandmother, Queen Victoria (1819-1901), on 21 December 2007 aged 81 years 244 days. Offically, Queen Elizabeth surpassed Queen Victoria at 5 pm GMT on 20 December 2007 (taking into account Queen Victoria’s hour of birth and death). I went with the next day, otherwise would be an equal holder. If still on the throne, Queen Elizabeth will surpass Queen Victoria’s record for the longest Continue reading →

Oldest pyramid

The Djoser Step Pyramid at Saqq?ra, Egypt was constructed by Imhotep (Djoser’s royal architect) c.2630 BC to a height of 62 m 204 ft. Updated 13/12/10: For many years, the Djoser Step Pyramid at Saqqara, Egypt, was considered to be the world’s earliest pyramid, constructed by Pharaoh Djoser’s royal architect, Imhotep, in approximately c.2630 BC. More recently, however, archaeologists have discovered that similar structures were being built at around the same time on the other side of the world. As early as 2700-2600 BC, an Continue reading →

Oldest purpose-built cinema in operation

The oldest cinema still in operation today is the Korsør Biograf Teater in Korsør, Denmark, which has been in operation from 7 August 1908. The Cinema actually opened at the Hotel Korsoer on 30 Jan 1907 but moved to its current location at 17 Jens Baggesens Gade in the summer of 1908 with the opening week beginning on 7 August. The programme for the first show was listed in the local newspaper the Korsoer Avis on August 7 and listed six films: 1. En Rejse Continue reading →

Oldest professional fashion model

Professional model Daphne Selfe (UK, b. 1 July 1928) of Baldock, Hertfordshire, UK, was a professional model as of 22 April 2014, aged 85 years 295 days. Her modelling career spans more than 60 years and includes appearances for the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Gap, Nivea, Olay, Tata-Naka and Michiko Koshino. As well as featuring in Vogue and Marie Claire, Mrs Selfe has been photographed by some of the most renowned fashion photographers, including Mario Testino, Nick Knight, and David Bailey.

Oldest professional chorus line

The combined age of the 10 dancers from the touring chorus line of The Tivoli Lovelies (Australia), based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is 746 years 147 days as of 12 October 2004. Lila Wells (nee Ross b. 15 December 1931) 72 years 302 days Elizabeth Arnold (nee Saffin b. 27 Janaury 1932) – 72 years 259 days Irene Stichling (nee Simpson b. 3 February 1927) 77 years 252 days Betty Foot (nee Norman b. 16 March 1929) 75 years 210 days Pat Wallace (b. 26 Continue reading →

Oldest private postal service

Lundy Island, situated off the north Devon coast, UK, had its own postal service launched on 1 November 1929 by Martin Coles Harman (UK), then-owner of the island. The private postal service came about after the General Post Office left the island in 1927 after 50 years. For the next two years Harman ferried the post to mainland Britian, launching the puffin post to cut his costs (Lundy is the Old Norse word for puffin). The stamps all feature a puffin or puffins and come Continue reading →