We all wish we could live longer, and it's hard to know what advice to listen to or whether your age of death is encoded into your genes. Thanks to the oldest people who have ever lived however, we're able to present some remarkable insights into why they might have lived so long. In reverse order:
Meet a Swaggie on Your Honeymoon
Christina Cock had lived 114 years and 148 days when she died in May 2002, holding the title of oldest living Australian ever.
She married her husband Wilbert Cock in 1913 and they stayed married until his death 73 years later. She herself suggested the secret to her longevity might have been an encounter with a "swagman" (a worker who travelled with all his personal belongings in a bundle), on their homeymoon. They had got into a carriage where the "swaggie" was, who saw that they were newlyweds and so got out at the next stop saying "I'll leave you to it, and hope you have a long and happy life."
Eat Herrings, Drink Orange Juice
Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper is - as you might have guessed with a name like that - the oldest person to have lived in the Netherlands, dying some two months after her 115th birthday in August 2005.
Speaking of her 115th birthday, it was on that day that she received a visit from the daughter-in-law of the Queen of the Netherlands, and perhaps more excitingly for her a delegation from Ajax Amsterdam - a team she had supported since attending her first match more than 80 years previously.
When asked what her tip for longevity was she suggested a serving of herring every day and drinking orange juice. She added later that not drinking alcohol and not smoking might have played its part.
Don't swear
The second oldest British person to have lived (and the eldest British male), John Evans managed to live 112 years and 295 days. He was born in Wales and worked down the coal mines, having never visited London until his 110th birthday.
After having a pacemaker fitted at the age of 108 he was asked by journalists what his secret to a long life was. He answered "No drinking, no smoking and no cursing."
Nearly die, Then Recover
Maria Esther de Capovilla was an Ecuadorian woman who managed from her birth in September 1889 to live 116 years and 347 days, dying in August of 2006 just a month and a half short of her 117th birthday.
She never smoked or drank hard liquor which might explain her longevity, but her real secret might have been almost dying once before.
At the age of 100 her health deteriorated, despite having never had any serious problems before. In fact, her health was so poor a priest was called and she was given last rites. Shortly after however she started to recover, and as recently as 2005 was said to be in good health and able to read the paper, watch TV and even walk a little with the aid of a walking stick.
Be Tranquil
The woman who holds the title of American to have lived longest was one Sarah Knauss. Born in Pennsylvania in 1880 she died just 33 hours before the year 2000 began, giving her a lifespan of 119 years and 97 days.
Despite living through seven US wars, she appears to have had a very peaceful life. She was a homemaker and for a while an office manager at an insurance firm. Her "passions" were described as watching golf on the TV, doing needlepoint and snacking on potato chips and cashew nuts.
Drink and smoke
Shigechiyo Izumi is a controversial figure as there does not seem to be any absolute concrete evidence of his birth except for him being recorded as a "six-year old" in the Japanese census of 1871. He is officially thought to have lived 120 years and 237 days, having been born on the Amami Islands in 1865.
It may surprise many to hear he regularly drank a Japanese alcoholic beverage - Schochu - often distilled from barley or rice which typically comes in at 25% alcohol by volume. That's not as strong as whiskey, but certainly carries more punch than wine or the other famous Japanese spirit, Sake.
And if that doesn't shock you, consider the fact that at the age of 70 he took up smoking. It's not clear from references to hand how much he smoked, but he managed to live a further 50 years as a result, dying in 1986 of pneumonia.
Don't work, but be active
Jeanne Clement is the French woman who lived the longest confirmed lifespan in history at a whopping 122 years and 164 days. Born in 1875 (she died in 1997), she met van Gogh, attended Victor Hugo's funeral and never did a single day's work.
In 1896 at the age of 21 she married her second cousin, a wealthy store owner. His wealth meant that she was able to spend her life playing tennis, swimming, rollerskating, playing piano and attending the opera. This attitude to life seems to have been more than just superficial - she said herself "I took pleasure when I could. I acted clearly and morally and without regret. I'm very lucky."
Her life free of the worries of work had other benefits as well: she is reported as once saying "I've only got one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it"
