Oldest

August 4, 1997 - Jeanne Calment was 122 years old when she died on this day. This is the longest verified human life on record.

In 1888 when Jeanne was 13 years old she met Vincent Van Gogh. He had come to her uncle's shop to buy some paint and she remembered him as being "dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable."

For the most part Jeanne lived a life of leisure. She married a wealthy man and raised a daughter. She outlived them all.

Her health was legendary. Jeanne was still biking herself around her hometown of Arles, France at the age of 100. At 109 she was still living by herself.

When asked for her secret to such an incredibly long life, Jeanne gave all the credit to olive oil. Apparently she drenched her food in it and religiously applied it to her skin. She also ate a kilo of chocolate a week - which she washed down with port wine.