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51-575: Benjamin Melniker (May 25, 1913 – February 26, 2018) was an American film producer and centenarian . He was an executive producer with Michael E. Uslan on the Batman film series and other DC Comics films. Melniker was also at one time a studio executive at MGM . This article about an American film producer is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Centenarian As world population and life expectancy continue to increase,

102-519: A congratulatory letter to Reverend Thomas Lord of Horncastle , Lincolnshire, in a newspaper clipping, declaring, "I am commanded by the King to congratulate you on the attainment of your hundredth year, after a most useful life". The practice was formalised from 1917, under the reign of King George V , who also sent congratulations then sent by a telegram on the attainment of a diamond wedding anniversary (or jubilee) marking 60 years of marriage. During

153-543: A hundred years", in that they wish that they could all live happily for a hundred years. In Greece, wishing someone Happy Birthday ends with the expression να τα εκατοστήσεις ( na ta ekatostisis ), which can be loosely translated as "may you make it one hundred birthdays". In Sri Lanka, it is a custom to bless as "you may live 220 instead of 120". In many countries, people receive a gift or congratulations from federal/state institutions on their 100th birthday. As of 2019, there were an estimated 72,000 centenarians living in

204-494: A hundred years". In Sweden, the traditional birthday song states, May he/she live for one hundred years . In Judaism , May you live to be 120 years old is a common blessing. In Poland, Sto lat , a wish to live a hundred years, is a traditional form of praise and good wishes, and the song "sto lat, sto lat" is sung on the occasion of the birthday celebrations—arguably, it is the most popular song in Poland and among Poles around

255-476: A letter of congratulations from the president of Germany . In Ireland, centenarians can receive a €2,540 "Centenarians' Bounty" and a letter from the president of Ireland , even if they are resident abroad . Irish people celebrating their 101st birthday may also receive a special silver minted coin with a quote by a famous Irish writer or poet. Centenarians born in Italy receive a letter of congratulations from

306-564: A means to decipher the will of the gods was more ancient than Rome itself. The use of the word is usually associated with Latins as well as the earliest Roman citizens. Though some modern historians link the act of observing Auspices to the Etruscans , Cicero accounts in his text De Divinatione several differences between the auspicial of the Romans and the Etruscan system of interpreting

357-585: A more important role. A preliminary study carried out in Poland showed that, in comparison with young healthy female adults, centenarians living in Upper Silesia had significantly higher red blood cell glutathione reductase and catalase activities, although serum levels of vitamin E were not significantly higher. Researchers in Denmark have also found that centenarians exhibit a high activity of glutathione reductase in red blood cells. In this study,

408-454: A scientist, the astronomer Hipparchus of Nicaea ( c.  185  – c.  120 BC ), who, according to the doxographer, said that the philosopher Democritus of Abdera ( c.  470/460  – c.  370/360 BC ) lived 109 years. Other ancient accounts of Democritus agree that the philosopher lived at least 90 years. The case of Democritus differs from those of, for example, Epimenides of Crete (7th and 6th centuries BC), who

459-587: A special occasion." Each few years the card was updated with a current updated picture of the Queen to ensure people did not receive the same card more than once. The Queen further sent her congratulations on one's 105th birthday and every year thereafter as well as on special wedding anniversaries. While the number of centenarians per capita was much lower in ancient times than today, the data suggest that they were not unheard of. Estimates of life expectancy in antiquity are far lower than modern values mostly due to

510-447: Is a person who has reached the age of 110 years. This age milestone is only achieved by about one in a thousand centenarians. Even rarer is a person who has lived to 115 . There are 75 people in recorded history who have indisputably reached 115. Only three of the people who have reached 115 are men. Tomiko Itooka , Inah Canabarro Lucas , Ethel Caterham and Okagi Hayashi are the only verified people currently alive who have reached

561-428: Is said by Bernold of Constance to have lived past 100 years ( iam maior centenario ). Research in Italy suggests that healthy centenarians have high levels of both vitamin A and vitamin E and that this seems to be important in causing their extreme longevity. Other research contradicts this, however, and has found that this theory does not apply to centenarians from Sardinia , for whom other factors probably play

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612-526: Is said to have lived an implausible 154, 157, or 290 years, depending on the source. Other ancient Greek philosophers thought to have lived beyond the age of 90 include Xenophanes of Colophon ( c.  570/565  – c.  475/470BC ), Pyrrho of Ellis ( c.  360  – c.  270 BC ), and Eratosthenes of Cirene ( c.  285  – c.  190 BC ). Also, the Greek rhetorician Isocrates of Athens (436-338 BC) lived 97/98 years and

663-511: Is said to have reigned for 94 years, but alternative readings cite a reign of just 64 years. Adad-guppi , mother of the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire Nabonidus apparently lived from c.  648 -544 BC (c. 104 years) according to inscriptions on funeral steles . Diogenes Laërtius ( c.  AD 250 ) gives one of the earliest references regarding the plausible centenarian longevity given by

714-525: The Jewish Encyclopedia . In ancient Rome, the appointment and inauguration of any magistrate, decisions made within the people's assembly and the advancement of any campaign, always required a positive auspicium . During Octavian 's first consulship in 43 B.C.E., the positive auspicium corresponded to the spotting of twelve vultures, similar to Romulus. Unlike in Greece where oracles played

765-601: The monarch King Charles III on their 100th birthday. In the UK, greeting cards are also sent by the monarch on every birthday beginning with the 105th. In Commonwealth realms in which the monarch does not ordinarily reside, honorees can also receive congratulations from the governor-general . In Canada, application must be made through the GGS official website. Similarly, in New Zealand, honorees must apply for greetings through

816-529: The president of Italy . In the Netherlands, the monarch and their commissioner sends a letter on the 100th birthday and on every birthday beginning with the 105th. Swedish centenarians receive a telegram from the king and queen of Sweden . In Commonwealth realms including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand centenarians can receive congratulations card greetings from

867-463: The 115 years milestone. Jeanne Calment from France is the only age-verified person in human history to have reached the age of 120 years. An aspect of blessing in many cultures is to offer a wish that the recipient lives to 100 years old. Among Hindus in India, where touching feet of elders and respected is a tradition, people who touch the feet of elders are often blessed with "May you live

918-723: The Centenarians Act of 2016 mandates that all living Filipinos residing in the Philippines or overseas receive a birthday congratulatory letter from the President of the Philippines and a ₱100,000 "Centenarian Gift" from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). In Taiwan, people aged 100 or above receive a golden pendant necklace on Chong Yang Festival each year from the president and Ministry of Health and Welfare . German centenarians receive

969-486: The U.S.; the 2020 census officially counted 80,139, and the 2010 census had 53,364. However, the U.S. Census Bureau claimed in 1999 that as many as a third of people stating their age as over 100 might be exaggerating. In the United States, centenarians may request a letter of congratulation from the president of the United States to mark their longevity. Jimmy Carter became the first former president to reach

1020-540: The United States. The UN estimated in 2012, as a result of these adjustments, that there were only 316,600 centenarians worldwide. The following table gives estimated centenarian populations by country, including both the latest and the earliest known estimates, where available. A study which received a 2024 Ig Nobel Prize found these numbers are inflated by welfare and pension fraud and poor record-keeping, neither of which are uniform across jurisdictions. A supercentenarian , sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian,

1071-630: The age of 100 on October 1, 2024. Today also presents a segment honoring centenarians and older, sponsored by Smuckers . The tradition was created in 1983 by weather presenter Willard Scott , and is now presented by his successor Al Roker . Japanese centenarians receive a silver cup and a certificate from the prime minister of Japan upon the Respect for the Aged Day following their 100th birthday, honouring them for their longevity and prosperity in their lives. In Madhya Pradesh , India ,

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1122-608: The award known as Shatayu Samman is given out to people who live at least 100 years to promote awareness of good health. North Korean centenarians receive a birthday congratulatory letter from the Supreme Leader of the DPRK . On 6 July 2022, Pak Hak Sil, a centenarian living in Koup-ri of Kangnam County , Pyongyang , received a birthday letter sent by Kim Jong Un . In the Philippines, Republic Act No. 10868 better known as

1173-414: The basic interpretations as they were often expected to take the auspices whenever they undertook any public business. Until 300 BCE only patricians could become augurs. Plebeian assemblies were forbidden to take augury and hence had no input as to whether a certain law, war or festival should occur. Cicero, an augur himself, accounts how the monopoly of the patricians created a useful barrier to

1224-485: The birds, the auspices from the gods could be favorable or unfavorable ( auspicious or inauspicious ). Sometimes politically motivated augurs would fabricate unfavorable auspices in order to delay certain state functions, such as elections. Pliny the Elder attributes the invention of auspicy to Tiresias the seer of Thebes . This type of omen reading was already a millennium old in the time of Classical Greece : in

1275-449: The centenarians having the best cognitive and physical functional capacity tended to have the highest activity of this enzyme . Other research has found that people whose parents became centenarians have an increased number of naïve B cells . It is well known that the children of parents who have a long life are also likely to reach a healthy age, but it is not known why, although the inherited genes are probably important. A variation in

1326-499: The city should be. Romulus was set on building the city upon the Palatine, but Remus wanted to build the city on the strategic and easily fortified Aventine Hill . The two agreed to settle their argument by testing their abilities as augurs and by the will of the gods. Each took a seat on the ground apart from one another, and, according to Plutarch , Remus saw six vultures , after which Romulus saw twelve. The two clashed over whether

1377-476: The encroachment of the populares . However, in 300 BCE a new law Lex Ogulnia , increased the number of augurs from four to nine and required that five of the nine be plebeians, for the first time granting the ability to interpret the will of the gods to lower classes. With this new power it was not only possible for plebeians to determine the gods' will in their favor but it was also now possible for plebeians to critique unfair interpretations by patricians.

1428-571: The famous Greek tragedian Sophocles (497/496-406/405 BC) lived at least 90 years. Hosius of Córdoba , the man who convinced Constantine the Great to call the First Council of Nicaea , reportedly lived to age 102. A rare record of an ordinary person who lived to be a centenarian is the tombstone of Roman British legionary veteran Julius Valens, inscribed "VIXIT ANNIS C". In the medieval period, Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan (d. 1097)

1479-491: The far greater incidence of deaths in infancy or childhood. Those who lived past early childhood had a reasonable chance of living to a relatively old age. The assumption of what constitutes "old age", or being "elderly", at least, seems to have remained unchanged since antiquity, the line being generally drawn at either sixty or sixty-five years; Psalm 90 :10 in the Hebrew Bible appears to give seventy to eighty years as

1530-455: The flight of birds For the Romans, the high flight of birds ( praepes ) was an auspicious omen, the low flight was less happy ( infera ). There were two classifications of auspices; impetrative ( impetrativa , sought or requested) and oblative ( oblativa , unsought or offered). Impetrativa were signs given in response to the augur's interpretation of the auspice. Oblativa were unexpected and unsought events which occurred either while

1581-608: The fourteenth-century BC diplomatic correspondence preserved in Egypt called the Amarna correspondence , the practice was familiar to the king of Alasia in Cyprus who needed an "eagle diviner" to be sent from Egypt. This earlier, indigenous practice of divining by bird signs, familiar in the figure of Calchas , the bird-diviner to Agamemnon , who led the army ( Iliad I.69), was largely replaced by sacrifice-divination through inspection of

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1632-593: The gene FOXO3 A is known to have a positive effect on the life expectancy of humans, and is found much more often in people living to 100 and beyond – moreover, this appears to be true worldwide. Men and women who are 100 or older tend to have extroverted personalities, according to Thomas T. Perls, the director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University. Centenarians will often have many friends, strong ties to relatives and high self-esteem. In addition, some research suggests that

1683-487: The globe. According to legends, Sages from ancient India lived and meditated for tens of thousands of years while Great Kings ruled their kingdoms for thousands of years. Chinese emperors were hailed to live ten thousand years , while empresses were hailed to live a thousand years. In Italy, "A hundred of these days!" ( cento di questi giorni ) is an augury for birthdays, to live to celebrate 100 more birthdays. Some Italians say "A cent'anni!", which means "(up) To

1734-481: The life expectancy of those who live into adulthood. Reliable references to individuals in antiquity who lived past 100 years are quite rare, but they do exist. For instance, Cicero's wife Terentia was reported by Pliny the Elder to have lived from 98 BC to 6 AD, 103 years. Regnal dates of Bronze Age monarchs are notoriously unreliable; the sixth dynasty Egyptian ruler Pepi II is sometimes listed as having lived c.  2278  – c.  2184 BC , as he

1785-528: The mechanism of repair after H 2 O 2 sublethal oxidative DNA damage and in their PARP capacity. PARP activity measured in the permeabilized mononuclear leukocyte blood cells of thirteen mammalian species correlated with maximum lifespan of the species. These findings suggest that PARP mediated DNA repair activity contributes to the longevity of centenarians, consistent with the DNA damage theory of aging . Many experts attribute Japan's high life expectancy to

1836-534: The natural life expectancy of a person surviving into old age, "The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty". A survey of the lifespans of male individuals with entries in the Oxford Classical Dictionary (i.e., a sample pre-selected to include those who lived long enough to attain historical notability) found a median lifespan of 72 years, and a range of 32 to 107 years, for 128 individuals born before 100 BC (though

1887-409: The necessary rituals, prayers, and other resources to help other augurs, especially members of the ruling aristocracy, to understand the fundamentals of augury. Although augurs had the power to interpret the signs, it was ultimately the responsibility of the magistrate to execute consequent decisions, or withhold or debate judgment as to future actions. The magistrates were also expected to understand

1938-562: The number of centenarians is expected to increase substantially in the 21st century. According to the Office of National Statistics in the United Kingdom, one-third of babies born in the country in 2013 are expected to live to 100. According to a 1998 United Nations demographic survey, Japan is expected to have 272,000 centenarians by 2050; other sources suggest that the number could be closer to 1 million. The incidence of centenarians in Japan

1989-425: The official government website. The traditions of British centenarians receiving greetings and congratulations was established by King Edward VII in 1908. The famous acrobat and tightrope walker Henry Johnson received a congratulatory letter from Edward VII via his royal courtier Viscount Knollys in 1906. The tradition of royal congratulations continued in 1908, when the secretary for King Edward VII sent

2040-572: The offspring of centenarians are more likely to age in better cardiovascular health than their peers. Lymphoblastoid cell lines established from blood samples of centenarians have significantly higher activity of the DNA repair protein PARP ( Poly ADP ribose polymerase ) than cell lines from younger (20 to 70 years old) individuals. The lymphocytic cells of centenarians have characteristics typical of cells from young people, both in their capability of priming

2091-459: The preference of the gods was indicated by Remus seeing vultures before Romulus did, or by Romulus seeing twelve vultures while Remus saw six. Vultures were pre-eminent in Roman augury, furnishing the strongest signs an augur could receive from a wild bird. They were subject to protective taboos and also called sacred birds. According to unanimous testimony from ancient sources the use of auspices as

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2142-518: The previous study, the culture of Okinawa has proven these factors to be important in its large population of centenarians. Augury Augury was a Greco - Roman religion practice of observing the behavior of birds , to receive omens . When the individual, known as the augur , read these signs, it was referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" ( Latin : auspicium ) means "looking at birds". Auspex , another word for augur, can be translated to "one who looks at birds". Depending upon

2193-594: The reading of auspices that helped keep it an essential part of Roman culture. Stoics, for instance, maintained that if there are gods, they care for men, and that if they care for men they must send them signs of their will. Even the Philistines practiced augury as far back as 740 BC and c. 686 BC as declared by Isaiah 2:6 in the Old Testament. Yet augury was first systematized by the Chaldeans according to

2244-432: The reign of King George V, only 24 telegrams were sent; however, with the aging population, this increased to 273 during 1952, when the longest-reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne. The Queen also sent a telegram, and later a portrait-style greeting card with the notation, "I am so pleased to know that you are celebrating your one hundredth birthday. I send my congratulations and best wishes to you on such

2295-455: The role of messenger of the gods, in Rome it was through birds that Jupiter's will was interpreted. Auspices showed Romans what they were to do, or not to do; no explanation for the decision was given except that it was the will of the gods. It would be difficult to execute any public act without consulting the auspices. It was believed that if an augur committed an error in the interpretation of

2346-537: The sacrificial victim's liver— haruspices —during the Orientalizing period of archaic Greek culture. Plato notes that hepatoscopy held greater prestige than augury by means of birds. One of the most famous auspices is the one which is connected with the founding of Rome. Once the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus , arrived at the Palatine Hill , the two argued over where the exact position of

2397-519: The same study found a median lifespan of 66 years for 100 individuals born after 100 BC but no later than 602 AD); by comparison, male individuals listed in Chambers Biographical Dictionary who died between 1900 and 1949 had a median lifespan of 71.5 years, with a range between 29 and 105 years. The author of the 1994 study concluded that it was only in the second half of the 20th century that medical advances have extended

2448-453: The signs, or vitia , it was considered offensive to the gods and often was said to have disastrous effects unless corrected. Elections, the passing of laws, and initiation of wars were all put on hold until the people were assured the gods agreed with their actions. The men who interpreted these signs, revealing the will of the gods were called augurs . Similar to records of court precedents, augurs kept books containing records of past signs,

2499-687: The typical Japanese diet, which is particularly low in refined simple carbohydrates, and to hygienic practices. The number of centenarians in relation to the total population was, in September 2010, 114% higher in Shimane Prefecture than the national average. This ratio was also 92% higher in Okinawa Prefecture . In Okinawa, studies have shown five factors that have contributed to the large number of centenarians in that region: Although these factors vary from those mentioned in

2550-467: The will of the gods. Cicero also mentions several other nations which, like the Romans, paid attention to the patterns of flying birds as signs of the gods' will but never mentions this practice while discussing the Etruscans. Though auspices were prevalent before the Romans, Romans are often linked with auspices because of their connection to Rome's foundation and because Romans established rules for

2601-734: Was one per 3,522 people in 2008. In Japan, the number of centenarians is highly skewed towards females. Japan in fiscal year 2016 had 57,525 female centenarians, while there were 8,167 males, a ratio of 7:1. The increase of centenarians was even more skewed at 11.6:1. The total number of centenarians in the world is uncertain. The Population Division of the United Nations estimated that there were 23,000 in 1950, 110,000 in 1990, 150,000 in 1995, 209,000 in 2000, 324,000 in 2005, 455,000 in 2009, and 935,000 in 2024. These older estimates, however, did not take into account downward adjustments of national estimates made by several countries such as

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