The oldest teacher in America, Agnes Zhelesnik of Watchung, New Jersey, turned 102 last Tuesday.

To live to that age is a great achievement, but it's even more remarkable when we learned that she still works 35 hours a week!Known as "granny," Agnes teaches prekindergarten to fifth-grade students how to cook and sew at the private Sundance School in North Plainfield. She reportedly has no plans to stop anytime soon.Agnes still has some years to go, however, to challenge the record books.As of last Friday, there were 13 living supercentenarians - people who have attained the age of at least 110 years - in our country. America's oldest living person, Susannah Mushatt Jones of Brooklyn, New York, aged 116 years, is also the oldest living person in the world.The oldest American on record was Sarah Knauss, who died in 1999 at the age of 119 years, 97 days. She was also the world's second-oldest fully documented person ever. Jeanne Calment, a French supercentenarian, has the longest confirmed human life span, living to the age of 122 years, 164 days.Calment, who lived in Arles, France, her entire life, continued to ride her bicycle up until her 100th birthday and lived on her own until shortly before her 110th birthday. She once credited her longevity and relatively youthful appearance to a diet rich in olive oil, which she also rubbed onto her skin. Her diet included port wine and chocolate (she ate nearly 2.2 pounds of chocolate every week).Two of this nation's supercentenarians now reside in Pennsylvania. On Tuesday, Irene Ciuffoletti, who lives at St. Anne Home in Greensburg, will turn 113. She ranks as the fifth-oldest living person currently living in the U.S. and the 20th oldest person in the world.Delphine Gibson of Huntingdon, the 31st oldest person in the world, also resides in this state and will turn 113 on Aug. 17.Gerontology, the study of the social, psychological, cognitive and biological aspects of aging, is in itself fascinating. But combining it with a historical event makes it even more intriguing.I recently watched a YouTube video of a 1956 episode of a panel game show called "What's My Line?" Garry Moor, the host, introduced the TV audience to Samuel Seymour. The 96-year-old man had fallen earlier in the day, but Moor said he still insisted on being on the show.Seymour's secret blew me away. As a 5-year-old, he was in Ford's Theater in Washington and witnessed the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.His one childhood recollection of the event was a concern for "the man who fell from the balcony." What he witnessed was John Wilkes Booth jumping onto the stage after shooting President Lincoln in the presidential box.Remarkably, at the time this show aired 60 years ago, there were still a few supercentenarians alive in this country who were veterans of America's Civil War.Concerning Pennsylvania's birthday girl, Irene Ciuffoletti, here are some historical tidbits from her first year after birth in 1903:• When she was born, Theodore Roosevelt was president.• On the day of her birth, Jan. 19, the first West-East transatlantic radio broadcast was made from the United States to England.• When she was 1 month old, the first teddy bear was introduced in America, and Cuba leased Guantanamo Bay to the United States.• When she turned 6 months old (July 23), Ernst Pfenning of Chicago became the first owner of the horseless carriage known as the Model A Ford.• When she was 10 months old on Oct. 1, Boston beat the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the first modern World Series.• When she was 11 months old, Orville Wright made the first controlled flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and the first box of Crayola crayons was made (selling for 5 cents).Now that's some trivia for the ages!By JIM ZBICK |

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