Indonesia says this man is 146 years old
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Any living being born in 1870 that is still alive today is either a turtle or a clam, with the apparent exception of an Indonesian man who just celebrated his 146th birthday. Mbah Gotho claims to be the oldest person to have ever lived, with his ID allegedly proving he was born in the same year that the 15th Amendment was ratified, The Independent reports.
Indonesian records can reportedly confirm that Gotho came into the world in a small village in Central Java on December 31, 1870. If those records are to be believed, then the second oldest person to have ever lived is confirmed as a Frenchwoman named Jeanne Calment, who was 122 when she died. Many others have claimed to be the oldest living people, but verifiable documents are required before the record can be confirmed.
Gotho, meanwhile, has been preparing for death since 1992; he had his gravestone made up 24 years ago. In 2016 he told local news that "what I want is to die."
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But if you have aspirations to make it as long as Gotho, he said "the recipe is just patience." A whole, whole lot of patience.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
