Golden Oldies
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Oldest Army The oldest-established military unit in the world is the 80–90 strong Pontifical Swiss Guard in Vatican City. The unit was officially founded on January 21, 1506, by pope Julius II, but its origins stretch back much earlier. The guards' uniforms are said to have been designed by Michelangelo.
Oldest Current Head Of State |
Oldest BASE Jumper “Ready… Head up… GO!” With these words, 74-year-old James Talbot Guyer launched himself off the 148-m (486-ft) high Perrine Bridge near Twin Falls, Idaho – and into the Guinness World Records book as the oldest man to BASE jump from a man-made structure. “It was wonderful,” said Guyer, originally from Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA. “I got to do a 360-degree turn after the chute opened and everything!” BASE – which stands for "building, antenna, span [bridge], earth [cliff]" – refers to the stationary surfaces from which daredevils such as Guyer throw themselves before parachuting safely to earth. The “sport” was first devised in 1980 by Norwegian Carl Boenish, and since then at least 39 people have died. The buzz comes from both breaking the law – most BASE jumps are illegal – and the narrow window of time between jumping, opening the parachute, and landing. The Perrine Bridge, where Guyer made his record-breaking BASE jump, is one of the few places where this extreme sport is legal. “I really hope what I did inspired some 75-year-old guys to come here!” said the sprightly Guyer. Oldest Town The settlement of Dolní Vêstonice, Czech Republic, has been dated to the prehistoric Gravettian culture of around 27,000 BC - at which point Europe was in the grip of the Ice Age. |
Oldest Baseball Player Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige pitched for the Kansas City A's (American League) at the age of 59 years and 80 days on September 25, 1965. His baseball career spanned 40 years although he was as famous for his showmanship on the field as he was for his pitching. Oldest Female Astronaut The oldest woman in space to have been in space Shannon Lucid (USA), who was aged 53 years when she boarded the space-shuttle mission STS 76 Atlantis in March, 1996. She is also the first and only woman to have made five spaceflights. Oldest Male Astronaut The oldest astronaut is John Glenn Jr who was 77 years 103 days old when he was launched into space aboard Discovery STS-95 on October 29, 1998. He was also a member of the group of seven test pilots selected by NASA to become the first American astronauts in 1959. He flew on Friendship 7 in February 1962, becoming the first American to orbit the Earth.
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Oldest Competitive Walker Philip Rabinowitz of Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa, is the oldest active competitive walker. Born February 1904, he still regularly competes in races over 20 km (12.42 miles). Rabinowitz was born in Lithuania but left for South Africa when he was 21.
Oldest NBA Player |
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