Saturday, 20 June 2009

Henry Allingham - Worlds Oldest Man

The world has a new oldest man and he's English! Henry Allingham is aged 113.

Just a quick resume, is enough to bring awe! Born on the 6th of June 1896, he was aged five when Queen Victoria died.

He is the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland, the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) in which he served in the first world war, and the last surviving founding member of the Royal Air Force (RAF).

He remembers watching W. G. Grace playing cricket, around 1903-05, and also recalls seeing the City Imperial Volunteers return from the Second Boer War.

He has lived through the Wall Street Crash of 1929, as well as the current collapse, and in all, his life has spanned three centuries and six monarchs. The US president at his birth was Grover Cleveland (the 24th), and its now Barack Obama (the 44th).

Here's a few memorable events - there are thousands more I could list.
  • 1901 - Queen Victoria dies
  • 1914 - WWI begins
  • 1917 - Russian Revolution
  • 1929 - The Wall Street Crash
  • 1939 - The Second World War starts
  • 1945 - First atomic bomb detonated
  • 1953 - Everest climbed for the first time
  • 1963 - President Kennedy assassinated
  • 1969 - Neil Armstrong walks on the Moon
  • 1989 - Fall of the Berlin Wall
  • 1990 - Nelson Mandela freed from prison after 27 years
  • 2008 - US elects first black president
A life well lived, and remarkable in the events it has witnessed.
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2 comments:

  1. Young Stevie21 June 2009 at 12:29

    I wonder what he thinks is the most important moment he has lived through?

    ReplyDelete
  2. No PC30 August 2009 at 10:01

    Don't know mate .... he had a lot to pick from.

    ReplyDelete

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